SINGAPORE: The 140-day trial of six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders, including founder and senior pastor Kong Hee and his deputy Tan Ye Peng, came to a close on Tuesday (Sep 15), with lawyers for the accused making final submissions to the court to prove their clients' innocence.
The defence reiterated that the accused carried out their actions in order "to do God's work" and for "the right purposes".
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The six are on trial for allegedly misusing S$24 million of church funds to finance the Crossover Project, the church's way of evangelising people through the secular music career of Sun Ho, who is Kong’s wife.
Another S$26.6 million was allegedly used to cover up the amount through sham bond investments in music production firm Xtron and glass manufacturer Firna, which are owned by CHC supporters.
“NOTHING TO GAIN … EVERYTHING TO LOSE”
Sharon Tan’s lawyer Paul Seah told the court that it cannot find his client guilty unless it is satisfied that the prosecution has proved Tan’s “criminal motive”, otherwise, there should be “serious doubts about her culpability”, as she had “no reason to engage in illegal” activities.
“She had nothing to gain … She had everything to lose”, Mr Seah told the court. He also urged Judge See Kee Oon to recall his client’s demeanour on the stand. “This is not a smooth operator,” Mr Seah said.
He also noted that two of Tan’s co-accused, Tan Ye Peng and Chew Eng Han, both say that she “could not have come into” a criminal conspiracy. “They have no reason to protect Sharon”, Mr Seah told the court.
"HO'S ALBUM WAS AN INVESTMENT"
Chew, who conducted his own defence, said the “key issue” should be “whether we hid (the alleged sham investment bonds) because we knew they were a sham” or whether they were hidden for a “pure” motive. According to Chew, it was Kong’s preference not to publicly disclose the close relationship shared by the church and the two companies they invested in – Xtron and Firna.
“The prosecution has failed to show any evidence that I knew it was a sham”, Chew said. “It’s not rocket science”, he told the court, explaining that if sales of Ms Ho’s album exceed the amount invested, the “bonds are good”. Chew was referring to the prosecution’s claim that the projected sales of Ms Ho’s album would not be enough to repay the bond.
It had been agreed by all parties that the church’s Building Fund is a restricted fund, to be used solely for building-related matters or for investments, and not to bankroll Ms Ho’s music career.
However, Chew insisted that Ms Ho’s album “was an investment" in his mind. "The consequences for (criminal breach of trust) are severe, when I look at what we’ve done versus the charges, they’re out of balance," he said.
Chew also accused the prosecution of being “vicious” and “twisting” his evidence to prove his guilt. “It is not what the prosecution thinks, it’s what I think. It’s my state of mind”, Chew said in his defence. “What reason do I have to do this? How can I pen in my spiritual journal that God is using me to do this?”
“THE EVIDENCE CANNOT SUSTAIN A CONVICTION”
Mr N Sreenivasan, Tan Ye Peng’s lawyer, told the court that the accused “should be convicted on fact, not inference”.
Mr Sreenivasan said that just because Tan played a part in distancing the church from Xtron, the prosecution’s inference is that “you have something to hide, you must be guilty”.
“Can you invest in a mission of the church?”, Mr Sreenivasan put to the court, saying that the Crossover Project was a legitimate investment, as it was synonymous with Ms Ho’s career, a fact agreed upon by both the prosecution and defence.
“When facts are looked at, the evidence cannot sustain a conviction”, Mr Sreenivasan told the court.
WEE USED "CHURCH FUNDS FOR CHURCH PURPOSES"
Serina Wee, who described working for the church she loved as a "dream come true” said that it was never her intention to cause the church to “suffer loss”. Her lawyer Andre Maniam told the court that “the use of church funds per se is not wrong”. CHC funds were used, Mr Maniam stated, but he urged the court to consider whether it was used “for the right purposes”.
Mr Maniam explained that even if the funds were not used for the “right purposes”, it mattered whether Wee knew this was so. And if Wee did, the next question to consider is whether she thought she was “acting in CHC’s interests”.
“This was really a case of well-intentioned accused who used church funds for church purposes, and that should not and cannot be criminalised”, Mr Maniam said.
This prompted Deputy Public Prosecutor Mavis Chionh to remind the court that “stealing to further a greater social good, in no way makes this theft any less (of) a crime”.
INVESTMENTS WERE MADE “TO DO GOD’S WORK”
The aim of the investments is “a laudable one”, John Lam’s lawyer Kenneth Tan, told the court. The investments were made “not to support the pastor’s wife in her career”, but to “do God’s work” and evangelise, Mr Tan said.
However, “there is a big leap from saying that all the parties who support the Crossover (Project) supported a lack of transparency of Xtron’s support of the Crossover (Project), Mr Tan said, adding that it was not fair to “tar everyone with the same brush”, citing Lam’s alleged knowledge that the investment bonds were a sham.
His client had “an honest belief … (that) this is an investment which helps the Crossover (Project)”, Mr Tan said.
“NO PERSONAL GAIN BY PASTOR KONG”
“There has been no personal gain by Pastor Kong here,” Kong’s lawyer Edwin Tong said. “It is not disputed that all of the (investment bonds) … went into the Crossover Project”, Mr Tong said, adding that the idea of the bonds was conceived by Chew, Kong’s co-accused.
When Chew brought the idea up to Kong, the latter “instructed (Chew) and (Tan Ye Peng) to check with CHC’s advisers”. In addressing the prosecution’s allegation that Kong “insulate(d) himself” by attributing his approval for the sham transactions to information given to him by “professionals”, Mr Tong said that as Kong was overseas for much of the time, he was “relying on an organizational structure which … has reliance on professional advisers.”
“What is wrong with that?” Mr Tong asked the court.
At the close of the trial, Judge See indicated that he would be ready to deliver his judgement on Oct 21, 2015.
- CNA/vc/wl