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'No money was lost'
Church claims in statement that money was 'returned in full, with interest'
04:46 AM Jun 29, 2012SINGAPORE - Alluding to the headlines bandied about by some sections of the media - after five of its church members were charged in court on Wednesday - City Harvest Church (CHC) yesterday claimed that it did not "lose" any money, and the individuals involved have not gained any "personal profit".
CHC Executive Pastor and founding member Aries Zulkarnain said in the statement: "It has been suggested that the church has been cheated of S$50 million. This is not accurate."
"The S$24 million, which went to investment bonds, was returned to the church in full, with interest. We didn't lose the S$24 million, nor did we lose 'another S$26.6 million' as alleged," he stated, stressing that the church "did not lose any funds in the relevant transactions, and no personal profit was gained by the individuals concerned".
On Wednesday, prosecutors charged that S$24 million was taken from CHC's coffers supposedly for "investment" in the bonds of two companies, but the money was used to fund the music career of Ms Sun Ho, wife of the mega church's founder Kong Hee.
Another set of criminal breach of trust offences centred on the "round-tripping" of another S$26.6 million from CHC's funds.
Kong, 47, is among the five facing 33 charges in total for allegedly misusing church funds, including criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts. The other four are: Suspended CHC Board Chairman John Lam Leng Hung, 44; former Board Vice-Chairman Tan Ye Peng, 39; CHC Investment Manager Chew Eng Han, 52; and ex-Finance Manager Sharon Tan Shao Yuen, 36. They will return to court on July 25.
Responding to queries on whether the S$24 million has been recovered, a police spokesperson said on Wednesday that "as the matter is now before the courts, we are not able to provide any information which may potentially be part of the evidence adduced in court". He added: "Generally, in law, the offence of criminal breach of trust of monies is established once there is misappropriation of the monies with the requisite intent, regardless of whether there have or have not been subsequent attempts at restitution by the accused."
Mr Zulkarnain reiterated that the church stands with the members involved. Adding that church activities will continue, he said the Commissioner of Charities (COC) has confirmed Kong and Tan Ye Peng will continue to preach at the church.
Speaking on behalf of the church board, Mr Bobby Chaw, the pastor in charge of missions, said the church was "surprised" that the COC suspended eight of its members without prior notice, given that CHC had been co-operating with the COC.
He revealed that the church had taken steps, over the past two years, to comply with the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports' code of governance. This included replacing half of its board with new members and conducting a full internal audit.
Mr Chaw, however, expressed disappointment with "some of the media's coverage so far, particularly in relation to the COC inquiry".
He said: "In some instances, they seem to have pre-judged us. We will be dealing with this in due course."
