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CHC trial: No intention of hiding information from auditors, Kong says
SINGAPORE: City Harvest Church had disclosed all information about its transactions to auditors, church founder Kong Hee maintained in court on Wednesday (Sep 10), during re-examination by his lawyer Edwin Tong.
Kong is one of six church leaders accused of misusing church monies to buy sham bonds in two firms - Xtron and Firna - to bankroll the secular pop music career of Kong's wife, Sun Ho.
Xtron was primarily a production house for music albums and also managed Ms Ho's career. In 2007, it issued bonds aimed at raising funds to support the production of one of her albums.
Kong said the church's auditors from Baker Tilly, including then-managing partner Foong Daw Ching, knew that Xtron was making a loss. Mr Foong also had clear and detailed knowledge of Xtron, including its activities, financial position and relationship with the church, said Kong.
Kong said he regarded the bonds in Xtron and Firna to be investments that could provide good returns to the church, and that he had no intention of keeping things from church executives and auditors as they are "our protection" who could guide and advise the church in doing things in a legal and legitimate way.
One of the points raised earlier by the prosecution was that Mr Foong was not told the whole truth about the transactions. The prosecution had also submitted that the true purpose of the consultations with Mr Foong was for the accused to perpetuate and facilitate the concealment of the alleged offences.
Kong on Wednesday maintained once again that he had no intention of keeping things from church executives and lawyers, but he wanted to be discreet about the church's Crossover Project, when it came to the public.
The project was conceived in 2001 and revolved around Ms Ho recording and launching secular pop music albums as a means of evangelism, to reach out to non-Christians.
In this light, Kong said that the project was not going to be carried out in an overtly religious manner. Discretion was also required to take into account the sensibilities of foreign countries, in order to make inroads there, he said.
Kong's lawyer is expected to wrap up his re-examination on Thursday. After that, the next witness, Sharon Tan, will take the stand. - CNA/xy
CHC trial: Kong Hee could not in "good conscience" commit to "unreasonable budget"
SINGAPORE: City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee on Thursday (Sep 11) said he could not in "good conscience" agree on negotiations with producers over the production of one of Sun Ho's music albums, during re-examination by his lawyer Mr Edwin Tong.
Kong and five of his deputies are accused of using church monies to fund the music career of Kong's wife, Ms Ho. She was involved in the church's Crossover Project, which revolved around her recording and launching secular pop music albums as a means of evangelism. The plan was also for Ms Ho to break into the United States music market.
In 2006, music producer Wyclef Jean, who is also a Haitian hip-hop recording artist, was brought on to help Ms Ho. He had wanted additional funding on the project and a 50-50 split on the net profit.
Kong said that he felt he could not commit to this "unreasonable budget" and "risky proposition" as this may put the church in a precarious position where it may not get its money back. Wyclef left the project in 2008 after negotiations broke down and Ms Ho's English album was never released.
Kong was also asked by his lawyer why he and his wife did not go back to the United States to launch the album so they could recover the album proceeds and revenue. He replied that all the investments the church had put into Xtron and Firna were restored to the church, so the church had not lost money.
He added that Ms Ho also had to come back to Singapore when investigations began, and had to finish whatever unfinished business she had on hand and uproot their son from the US. As the church's co-founder, his wife would have to be around as the church needed her, he said.
Kong appeared emotional on the stand as he told the court how investigations had affected his young son. Describing the process as "shocking" and "traumatic", he said his son had panic anxieties, was hyperventilating and had to be brought to see a psychiatrist. The boy's classmates would innocently ask him, "Is your Dad in jail already?" and Kong said his son would often ask why the teachers and adults at school were constantly talking about Kong.
SHOULDERING THE BLAME?
Kong wrote that he wanted to "shoulder the blame" in a "confession letter" on Jun 3, 2010, after the church's lawyer at Drew & Napier, Jimmy Yim, advised him to come clean. Kong said in court that he felt he had done wrong because he was "ignorant" and could have been more involved in some of the financial transactions.
Kong was questioned by former church treasurer and co-accused Chew Eng Han during cross-examination. Chew, who is defending himself, said that in a previous four-and-a-half-hour conversation, Kong had described the confession letter as one for himself to take full responsibility and let everyone else off.
At the time, Chew had told Kong to "stop shouting so loud". But he claimed that Kong had continued to do so and to portray himself as "heroic" and "a responsible pastor". Kong denied this and said it was really his intention to come clean about what he knew, express his state of mind and shoulder the blame for everyone.
With Kong's lawyer wrapping up his re-examination on Thursday, the church's finance manager, Sharon Tan, is expected to take the stand on Friday. - CNA/av/xy
Kong Hee chokes up in court as he talks about 'traumatic' time for young son
Published on Sep 11, 2014 2:04 PM
City Harvest Church (CHC) founder Kong Hee at the courts on Sept 11, 2014. Kong choked up a few times on the stand on Thursday as he told the court how investigations into financial irregularities at the church had affected his young son. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
By Selina Lum
SINGAPORE - City Harvest Church (CHC) founder Kong Hee choked up a few times on the stand on Thursday as he told the court how investigations into financial irregularities at the church had affected his young son.
The pastor and five others are on trial for allegedly misusing church funds to boost the music career of his wife Ho Yeow Sun and falsifying church accounts to cover the misuse. "The whole investigation was shocking and traumatic for my little boy," he said of his son Dayan, who was 5 1/2 years old when the Commercial Affairs Department started probing the church's financial affairs in 2010.
Kong said his son started to have panic attacks and was "hyperventilating on most days". He and his wife had to bring the boy to see a psychiatrist, he said.
Kong spoke about his son after being asked by his lawyer Edwin Tong to explain why Ms Ho did not return to the United States to complete her album after the investigations started. Earlier in the trial, co-accused and former CHC fund manager Chew Eng Han had questioned why Kong had not sent Ms Ho back to the US to minimise losses to the church. "Dayan needed his mum to be around," Kong said.
The boy attended a Christian school and Kong said that the "young and innocent" children asked his son: "Is your Dad in jail already?"
He said his son had also asked him: "Dad, why were all the teachers and adults in school talking about you?"
City Harvest Trial: Auditors would've known of links to Xtron, says Kong Hee
No attempt by church to obfuscate close ties to music firm, says Kong Hee
Published on Sep 11, 2014 7:56 AM
In his third day on the stand this week, church founder Kong Hee maintained there was never any attempt by them to obfuscate the close connections with Xtron Productions. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
By Joyce Lim
The auditors of City Harvest Church would have been fully aware of all its links to the music production company that church officials are accused of using as a vehicle to misuse church funds.
In his third day on the stand this week, church founder Kong Hee maintained there was never any attempt by them to obfuscate the close connections with Xtron Productions.
He said those who had oversight of the accounts of both the church and Xtron would have seen it was managing his wife Ho Yeow Sun's music career.
Together with five others, Kong is accused of misusing some $50 million of church funds to boost Ms Ho's music career and covering up the misuse by falsifying church accounts.
"No concern" on investments, says City Harvest Church's finance manager
SINGAPORE: City Harvest Church's finance manager, Sharon Tan, took the stand on Friday (Sep 12) for the first time since the trial began. She is one of six church leaders accused of misusing more than S$50 million of funds.
Tan joined the accounts department of the church in 2000 as an assistant accountant. In 2008, she was promoted to finance manager, where she oversaw the department's operations. However, she maintained she did not have much investment background and did not have any concerns about the church's investments.
Tan said she knew nothing about bonds until they were introduced to the church in 2007. She also said that she had only learnt about certain investment products, such as convertible bonds, from another one of the accused, Chew Eng Han. Chew was then the fund manager handling the church's investments.
She had also been tasked with taking minutes during some board meetings, where the church's investments were discussed. One investment being considered then was the purchase of a Riverwalk property by Xtron Productions.
Xtron was registered under Chew, his wife and Lam Leng Hung. It was also the artist management firm for Sun Ho, wife of City Harvest founder, Kong Hee.
Members had discussed how Xtron would buy the Riverwalk property for S$17.8 million. A down payment of S$5 million would be paid in cash, and the remaining S$12.8 million would be financed by a bank loan. The church would then rent the premises from Xtron for its growing congregation, and pay advanced rent.
It is the prosecution's case that the advanced rental agreement between Xtron and the church was a "sham".
Tan told the court she felt the transaction was "legitimate" and "beneficial to the church". She got this impression from an email from co-accused Serina Wee, who described it as a "good investment" which could yield rental savings of S$1 million a year. In the email thread, Chew had also said it "made sense" to buy the property.
Tan described her role in the acquisition as one of bringing the matter up in a board meeting. She said the approval ultimately had to be given by the board. - CNA/ac
CHC trial: Kong Hee said Xtron was like City Harvest's "own GIC"
SINGAPORE: City Harvest Church board members were told to be discreet about the relationship between the church and music production company Xtron Productions, said the church's finance manager Sharon Tan on Monday (Sep 15).
Tan is one of six church leaders accused of misusing more than S$50 million of funds, and this was her second day on the stand.
The court heard that Xtron Productions was started in 2003 by three church members, to own and manage future buildings that the church could use consistently. Since then, there have been changes in Xtron's directorship. According to court documents, church founder Kong Hee had told attendees this during an extraordinary general meeting on Aug 10, 2008.
He described Xtron as being "like our own GIC" - referring to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund - and said it was the result of members "doing things for the purpose of wanting to fulfil the vision of our church". The company needed to be "friendly" towards the church, such that when they owned a property, they would give the church "priority to rent it whenever we want it, however we want it", he had said.
Kong acknowledged that Xtron needed to have a "track record that it's a viable, profitable company" so that banks and developers and Government authorities would want to work with it.
He also said that for Xtron to be credible, there had to be a separation from the church. To do so, various steps were taken. For example, the church would not hold shares in Xtron, and and Xtron would also organise and manage several secular events.
During the meeting, attendees were asked to apply a "don't ask, don't tell" policy when it came to Xtron. Tan said she understood that Xtron was a "vehicle" that would hold the church's future building.
She added that the church had been in search of a property "for the longest time". The difficulty of finding a venue big enough to hold the church's congregation left commercial property as the only option, rather than land set aside for religious purposes.
City Harvest trial: Finance head Sharon Tan says she had to consult her predecessor Serina Wee
Finance head Tan says she had to consult her predecessor Wee
Published on Sep 16, 2014 8:22 AM
Sharon Tan checked with Serina Wee and co-accused Chew Eng Han before backdating the minutes of a meeting.
By Selina Lum
Even though she was the finance manager of City Harvest Church (CHC), Sharon Tan consulted her predecessor, Serina Wee, for matters relating to the church's investment in Xtron Productions, the court heard yesterday.
Tan and Wee are among six people accused of misusing $50 million in church funds to boost the music career of Ms Ho Yeow Sun, the wife of founding pastor Kong Hee, and covering up the misuse. When Wee resigned as finance manager in August 2007, Tan took over as senior accountant and was promoted to finance manager in January 2008.
One of her duties was to take minutes at meetings of the church's board and investment and audit committees.
Yesterday, the court heard that in August 2008, she checked with Wee and co-accused Chew Eng Han, the church's fund manager, before backdating the minutes of a meeting.
City Harvest trial: Finance head Sharon Tan says she had to consult her predecessor Serina Wee
Finance head Tan says she had to consult her predecessor Wee
Published on Sep 16, 2014 8:22 AM
Sharon Tan checked with Serina Wee and co-accused Chew Eng Han before backdating the minutes of a meeting.
By Selina Lum
Even though she was the finance manager of City Harvest Church (CHC), Sharon Tan consulted her predecessor, Serina Wee, for matters relating to the church's investment in Xtron Productions, the court heard yesterday.
Tan and Wee are among six people accused of misusing $50 million in church funds to boost the music career of Ms Ho Yeow Sun, the wife of founding pastor Kong Hee, and covering up the misuse. When Wee resigned as finance manager in August 2007, Tan took over as senior accountant and was promoted to finance manager in January 2008.
One of her duties was to take minutes at meetings of the church's board and investment and audit committees.
Yesterday, the court heard that in August 2008, she checked with Wee and co-accused Chew Eng Han, the church's fund manager, before backdating the minutes of a meeting.
City Harvest trial: Accused Sharon Tan weeps while quizzed by own lawyer
Published on Sep 18, 2014 7:49 AM
"Your honour, I believe I remain consistent," said Tan as she addressed the judge, before starting to weep at the end of her fourth day on the stand. -- ST PHOTO: CHEW SENG KIM
By Joyce Lim
City Harvest finance manager Sharon Tan yesterday broke down and cried when asked by her lawyer if she had been consistent in her testimony.
"Your honour, I believe I remain consistent," said Tan as she addressed the judge, before starting to weep at the end of her fourth day on the stand.
Even as the 38-year-old struggled to compose herself, Presiding Judge of the State Courts See Kee Oon adjourned the hearing for the day.
Tan is one of six, including church founder Kong Hee, currently on trial for misusing $50 million in church funds. The money was allegedly spent on boosting the music career of Kong's wife Ho Yeow Sun, and then to cover this up.
Xtron planned to give City Harvest S$10m discount on 'advance rental': CHC finance manager
SINGAPORE: City Harvest Church finance manager Sharon Tan cried on Wednesday (Sep 17), her fourth day on the stand.
She was being questioned by her lawyer, Senior Counsel Kannan Ramesh, about one of her statements, when the tears flowed. It was not known what caused her to cry, and the trial was adjourned soon after.
In today's session, the Court was shown a statement Tan gave to the Commercial Affairs Department in 2010. In it, she said there were plans for the church to pay production house Xtron a fee of S$56 million for eight years of "advance rental" valued at S$7 million a year.
However, Tan today clarified that the amount was S$46 million, not S$56 million. This was because Xtron had earlier indicated it would give the church a "discount".
Xtron was started by three church members, to own and manage future buildings the church could use consistently for its growing congregation.
Tan's lawyer had questioned her about the statement to confirm it was consistent with her testimony over the past four days. She replied that it was.
Updated: 09/19/2014 22:59 | By Channel NewsAsia
CHC trial: Church's finance manager says she does not know why she was charged
SINGAPORE: More than two years after City Harvest Church’s finance manager was accused of falsifying accounts, Sharon Tan maintains that she does not know why she had been charged.
Tan said this on her sixth day on the stand on Friday (Sep 19), in response to a question by a lawyer representing co-accused Tan Ye Peng, the church's deputy senior pastor. A total of six church leaders are accused of using church monies to buy sham bonds in two firms.
Tan was also asked about an alleged sham agreement - the Advance Rental Licence Agreement dated Oct 1, 2009 - in which the church would pay advance rental to production house Xtron for a venue for its growing congregation. Earlier in the day, as she was cross-examined by former church treasurer and co-accused Chew Eng Han - who is representing himself - Tan refuted that this was a sham arrangement.
She agreed with Chew that in every transaction, they would look out for the interests of the church and evaluate how beneficial it was to the church. For example, in the search for a venue, Chew and the building committee had considered factors such as the dividend yields from the property.
Chew also brought up examples of locations considered - including Suntec, the Sports Hub and Capitol - to show that it was a "serious search for property". He said an earlier search had stretched over 41 months, with 23 sites being considered from May 2005 to October 2008.
In response to one of Chew's questions, Tan said that the Advanced Rental Licence Agreement did not seem "sinister" to her as there was every intention for full disclosure. She said that in an email, she had requested that Chew run through the agreement with a lawyer, and get the lawyer to help do a write-up to present to the board and members.
She also agreed that there were good controls put in place for the church's investments. For example, approval of the board is needed for monies to be moved from the church's building fund. Three signatories would also be needed for the drawdown of bonds.
City Harvest trial: E-mail with under the spotlight
Emoticon would not be sent if there was a conspiracy, says accused
Published on Sep 19, 2014 8:38 AM
City Harvest Church's Chew Eng Han arriving at the State Courts on Aug 25, 2014. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
By Feng Zengkun
A smiley face emoticon which one accused e-mailed another came under the spotlight in the City Harvest Church trial yesterday.
Former church fund manager Chew Eng Han said the icon, which was sent to him by church finance manager Sharon Tan, showed that he and his alleged co-conspirators did not believe they were doing anything illegal.
"Sharon, you and I have been charged for conspiring to defraud the auditors," Chew told Tan, who turns 39 today.
"If we were really conspiring, would you put a smiley face (in the e-mail), unless you are a seasoned conspirator?"
Tan, who had inserted the icon at the end of a series of e-mail messages discussing what to tell church auditors about various church-financed investments, replied: "No."
Tan, Chew, church founder Kong Hee and three others face charges for their part in allegedly misusing some $50 million of church funds for the secular music career of Kong's wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun, and then covering it up.
Chew, who is representing himself, yesterday used his chance to cross-examine Tan to refute the prosecution's allegation that his fund management firm AMAC Capital Partners was nothing more than a shell set up to funnel church funds illegally into Ms Ho's career.
AMAC had helped the church buy $13 million worth of bonds issued by Xtron, the company that managed Ms Ho's singing career. The bonds, allege the prosecution, were "sham".
In one e-mail, Chew instructed Tan to keep details of various AMAC investments financed by the church from auditors, since there was no legal obligation to disclose the information.
He told the court yesterday that he did so because "some of the loans that were made to shareholders of listed companies were sensitive information".
"We were not trying to make the job difficult for the auditor," he said.
He also pointed out how AMAC, through investments unrelated to Xtron, had also made "serious money" for the church, with one deal reaping $703,500.
Tan simply nodded or said yes to most of Chew's assertions, a stark contrast to her demeanour earlier in the day.
Having broken down on Wednesday as the day's hearing drew to a close, she was again in tears yesterday when describing her long relationship with the church, which she insisted precluded her from doing anything to harm the organisation.
She told the court how she had joined City Harvest when she was 15, then worked there for more than a decade and married a cell group leader. Now, her three children are members.
"This is my first and only church. Everything that is me right now I learnt from this church," she cried. "I never had the intention to cause any loss to the church. Never."
City Harvest trial: Phone messages of church's finance manager under scrutiny
SINGAPORE: City Harvest Church's finance manager Sharon Tan was queried about a series of messages on her phone, namely on advance rental given by the church to production house Xtron, in the City Harvest trial on Monday (Sep 22).
It was revealed that the money was used to buy bonds by glassware company, Firna. This was Tan's seventh day on the stand, and she was cross-examined by lead prosecutor for the case Mavis Chionh.
Tan and five other church leaders are accused of using the church's building funds to buy sham bonds in two companies, Firna and Xtron. Tan had copied messages between herself and co-accused, Chew Eng Han, Serina Wee and Tan Ye Peng, onto a document in the memo application on her BlackBerry phone.
Prosecution referred to a message where Tan highlighted a potential problem - that the church's auditor Mr Sim Guan Seng, from accounting firm Baker Tilly, was handling the accounts of Xtron, and so would know about the related transactions.
It is the prosecution's case that Tan was trying to hide that advance rental from the church had been channelled into the redemption of Firna bonds. However, Tan maintained that the auditors would still have knowledge about the transactions as they had access to both the accounting books of Xtron and the church. - CNA/do
On her second day under cross-examination by the Prosecution on Tuesday, City Harvest Church finance manager Sharon Tan admitted that she "shouldn't have" backdated the minutes from a CHC investment committee meeting in 2008. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KKWAI CHOW
By Jalelah Abu Baker
Singapore- On her second day under cross-examination by the Prosecution on Tuesday, City Harvest Church finance manager Sharon Tan admitted that she "shouldn't have" backdated the minutes from a CHC investment committee meeting in 2008.
Pointing out that Tan had changed the date in order to avoid disclosing to auditors that an Xtron director had been present at a meeting which discussed matters relating to Xtron, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mavis Chionh said: "You are perfectly willing to falsify documents that you know are going to be shown to the auditors, if you think it is necessary to achieve a certain purpose."
The prosecution argued that CHC controlled Xtron, although Tan maintained it was an independent entity.
DPP Chionh referred Tan to her earlier evidence that she had backdated the meeting to a date before the church member was appointed the director of Xtron, and said this was to throw the auditor off the trail. Tan disagreed.
CHC had substantial control over Xtron payroll: Prosecution
SINGAPORE: City Harvest Church had a "substantial degree of control and influence" over the payroll and staff salaries of production company Xtron, said Chief Prosecutor Mavis Chionh on Tuesday (Sep 23), as she continued her cross-examination of the church's finance manager Sharon Tan.
This was part of the prosecution's continuing bid to show that Xtron was a shell company controlled by the church to funnel church monies. Tan and five other church leaders are accused of misusing church funds, to finance the pop music career of Ms Sun Ho, the wife of founder Kong Hee.
The court was shown an email dated July 2008, in which Tan had asked co-accused Kong to confirm that staff would be given a half-month bonus and inflation component. Xtron was listed as one of the organisations included in this "scheme".
To that, Tan replied that the organisations showed "interest and indication" that they may want to follow how much the church was giving "as a guide". The prosecution argued that Tan was being "untruthful" a number of times and that her explanation was just a "convenient excuse".
For example, on Mar 23, 2009, Tan sent a message using her BlackBerry phone to one of the co-accused, Deputy Senior Pastor Tan Ye Peng. In the message, which referenced co-accused Serina Wee (then the accountant working on the Xtron cashflow), Sharon Tan wrote: "Serina said that need to find another $1million per year to extend the bonds. I suggested that CHC can give a discount in interest for those extended years. I do not see any issue in it."
The prosecution questioned Tan if she meant that Xtron needed to extend the bond repayment period, and that it needed to find another $1million to pay off the bonds. However, Tan disagreed and said the "discussion did not happen at the end of the day, so it was really another scenario-planning and budget planning".
The prosecution then put it that Tan was "being untruthful" and "trying to explain away" her statements because she realised that the message was evidence that funds flows between Xtron and the church were "treated very much as money going from one pocket to another".
In Tuesday's court session, Tan also acknowledged that "on hindsight", she should not have backdated the minutes of an investment committee meeting to 29 July 2008 when it was actually held on Aug 5.
Tan said she did so to reflect the date that one of the attendees, Koh Siow Ngea, was appointed as a director of Xtron, to avoid any "related party disclosure".
The prosecution claimed that Tan backdated the minutes because auditors had asked on Aug 1 for an assessment on Xtron's ability to repay some bonds it had issued. The church had not done the assessment until it met on Aug 5.
The prosecution said that Tan is seen as being "perfectly willing to falsify documents" that will be shown to auditors, if she thought that it was necessary to achieve a certain purpose. To that, Tan said she was "overly paranoid over the conflict of interest" and it was never her intention to defraud the auditors. - CNA/do
CHC trial: New evidence of text conversation among accused
Published on Sep 22, 2014 7:24 PM
City Harvest Church (CHC) finance manager Sharon Tan came under intense cross examination on Monday as the Prosecution questioned her on a text conversation she had with others who are accused. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
By Jalelah Abu Baker
Singapore-City Harvest Church (CHC) finance manager Sharon Tan came under intense cross examination on Monday as the Prosecution questioned her on a text conversation she had with others who are accused.
In a text saved as a memo in her Blackberry mobile phone, Tan wrote: "There may be a prob...The same Mr Sim is doing the XPL(Xtron Productions Limited) accounts. So he will know where the money is going to." She was talking to former church fund manager Chew Eng Han.
She was referring to auditor Sim Guan Seng, who was looking after the books of CHC and Xtron, one of the companies in which the Church allegedly made sham investments to fund founder Kong Hee's wife Sun Ho's music career.
Quoting another text in the new evidence that she submitted on Monday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mavis Chionh asked why it may be a "problem" that auditor Sim Guan Seng is doing both the books.
In response, Tan said she was worried that the whole Crossover project, which was meant to use Ms Ho's pop music to evangelise to non-Christians, would be "revealed".
Tan, Chew, Kong Hee, and three others face charges for their part in allegedly misusing some $50 million of church funds for the secular music career of Ms Ho, and then covering it up.
On her second day under cross-examination by the Prosecution on Tuesday, City Harvest Church finance manager Sharon Tan admitted that she "shouldn't have" backdated the minutes from a CHC investment committee meeting in 2008. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
By Jalelah Abu Baker
Singapore- On her second day under cross-examination by the Prosecution on Tuesday, City Harvest Church finance manager Sharon Tan admitted that she "shouldn't have" backdated the minutes from a CHC investment committee meeting in 2008.
Pointing out that Tan had changed the date in order to avoid disclosing to auditors that an Xtron director had been present at a meeting which discussed matters relating to Xtron, Deputy Public Prosecutor Mavis Chionh said: "You are perfectly willing to falsify documents that you know are going to be shown to the auditors, if you think it is necessary to achieve a certain purpose."
The prosecution argued that CHC controlled Xtron, although Tan maintained it was an independent entity.
DPP Chionh referred Tan to her earlier evidence that she had backdated the meeting to a date before the church member was appointed the director of Xtron, and said this was to throw the auditor off the trail. Tan disagreed.
It is the prosecution's case that the church made sham investments in Xtron and a second company, when the funds were actually being used to finance church founder Kong Hee's wife Sun Ho's music career, and then engaged in what the accounting industry calls "round-tripping" to hide the irregularities from auditors.
Tan responded by saying that on hindsight, she should not have done it, but that it was never her intention to "defraud the auditors".
Tan, Kong Hee and four others face charges for their part in allegedly misusing some $50 million of church funds for the secular music career of Ms Ho, and then covering it up.
Prosecution accuses CHC finance manager of "creative misinterpretation" of emails
SINGAPORE: The City Harvest Church trial continued on Wednesday (Sep 24), with the prosecution accusing the finance manager Sharon Tan of "lying" and "creative misinterpretation" of her own emails.
Tan and five other church leaders are charged with using the church's building funds to buy sham bonds in two companies, glassware firm Firna and production house Xtron. On her third day of being cross-examined by the prosecution, Tan was questioned about certain investment decisions, which were not documented in the meeting minutes.
In one instance in 2008, Tan said the church board discussed and approved an investment of S$24.5 million in bonds by Firna, following a verbal presentation by co-accused Chew Eng Han, but their decision was not recorded in any board minutes.
Lead prosecutor for the case Ms Mavis Chionh put it that Tan was lying and that the board had not approved the decision. Ms Chionh asked: "Isn't it incredible that the City Harvest Church board can review, discuss and decide to approve an investment of a huge sum of up to S$24.5 million into Firna bonds, apparently without having seen any detailed reports, and apparently without bothering to minute any of this?"
Tan replied that this was "how the board works", and that it places its trust in fund manager Chew for any investment presentation.
The prosecution also contended that Tan conspired with three of the accused to make false entries in the church's accounts and transfer money to various companies to create the impression that the sham bonds had been redeemed.
But Tan maintained there was a legitimate reason for the redemption of the bonds. She said the church's auditor, Mr Sim Guan Seng from Baker Tilly, had said in a meeting in April 2009 that he wanted the church to "clear" the bonds off the church's books.
But this was also not recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The prosecution further pointed out that in a subsequent follow-up email Tan sent to co-accused Tan Ye Peng and John Lam, there was also no mention of this comment made by Mr Sim.
The prosecution said that Tan was lying and that Mr Sim had not made such a statement. But Tan pointed out that she had written that Mr Sim hoped to see the issue being resolved by the end of the year, which carried the same meaning as having the Xtron bonds cleared off the books.
The prosecution said that Tan was again indulging in "creative misinterpretation" of the plain words of her own emails to escape the lies she told about what Mr Sim supposedly said. - CNA/xy
City Harvest trial: Finance manager Sharon Tan accused of lying
Auditor didn't recommend purging of accounts: DPP
Published on Sep 25, 2014 8:38 AM
The prosecution said Sharon Tan (above) lied when she claimed it was an outsider - an auditor - who had recommended that the church purge its books of its bonds in music production company Xtron. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
By Selina Lum
City Harvest Church (CHC) finance manager Sharon Tan was yesterday, in her eighth day on the stand, accused of lying in the trial involving alleged wrongdoing by church officials and staff.
The prosecution said Tan lied when she claimed it was an outsider - an auditor - who had recommended that the church purge its books of its bonds in music production company Xtron.
Tan is one of six people, including founding pastor Kong Hee, accused of misusing $50 million of church funds to boost the music career of Kong's wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun, and covering up the misuse.
The prosecution said all the accused, except Tan, channelled money from the church's building fund into sham bond investments in Xtron - which manages Ms Ho's career - and glass manufacturer Firna. Four of them, including Tan, then allegedly devised transactions to clear the sham bonds from CHC's accounts to throw auditors off the scent.
City Harvest Church leaders tried to "bamboozle" auditor: Prosecution
SINGAPORE: At the City Harvest Church trial on Thursday (Sep 25), the prosecution said finance manager Sharon Tan was not the "innocent follower" that she tried to paint herself as, when it came to plans to use church funds to redeem sham bonds.
Tan was taking the stand for the tenth day. She is one of six church leaders who are accused of using millions of dollars from the church's building fund to buy sham bonds in two companies, Firna and Xtron.
Lead prosecutor for the case, Mavis Chionh, showed the court messages between Tan and co-accused Chew Eng Han, in which Tan proposed using a third party to redeem the Firna bonds. She had proposed using Pacific Radiance, a company linked to member John Lam who is one of those on trial.
In one message, Tan said that even if church auditor Mr Sim Guan Seng suspected that church monies were used to redeem the bonds, "he can't fault or pinpoint". The prosecution accused Tan and Chew of trying to "bamboozle" Mr Sim and not let him find out that church funds were used to redeem the Firna bonds.
Tan disagreed and said that she was worried about "disclosure" as she had the understanding that the drawdown from the Firna bonds would be used to support the Crossover Project, which involved church co-founder Sun Ho recording and launching secular music albums. - CNA/xy
under the spotlight
