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City Harvest founder Kong Hee and senior leaders of the church were back in court on Monday, the first day of the resumed trial involving the alleged multi-million dollar misuse of church funds.
Kong appeared in high spirits as he walked into the Sub Courts on Monday morning at about 920am, accompanied by his pop-star wife Sun Ho.
Ex-finance manager Serina Wee arrived at about 9.05 am, with Kong Hee's deputy Tan Ye Peng trailing minutes later.
A long queue of over 50 supporters formed before dawn at the Subordinate Courts to show their support, reported local media.
Pastor and founder Kong Hee, 48, and four officers were charged last year with varying degrees of involvement in a scheme to siphon off S$24 million ($19 million) to finance the singing career of his wife, Sun Ho.
In addition, more than S$26 million in church money was allegedly misappropriated to cover up the original diversion.
Before the case was adjourned back in May, prosecutors alleged the accused channeled money allotted for the church's building into buying sham bond investments in church-linked companies so they could finance Ho's secular music career.
They allegedly falsified church accounts to make it appear the bonds were redeemed, in a practice the prosecutors called "round-tripping".
"These transactions were thus designed to throw the auditors off the scent of the bogus bonds," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Mavis Chionh.
Chionh said at the time the offences were "part of a deliberately planned, meticulously coordinated and carefully executed scheme which stretched over a period of time and involved the movement of millions of dollars".
The church, which has a membership of more than 30,000, has affiliates in neighbouring Malaysia and other countries.
It is known for services that resemble pop concerts and had assets estimated at more than Sg$100 million in 2009.
The pastor's wife, now in her early 40s, was hoping international stardom would help spread the church's message, according to previous reports in the Singapore media.
Last month, Kong Hee was back in the headlines after a YouTube video which went viral showed a Kong Hee hermon, in which he claimed that God had apologised to him for his struggles.
"'Father, Father, why, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me and thrown me to the dogs?'" he was recorded as saying, after relating the experience of Jesus Christ on the cross at his crucifixion and sharing that he identified with that kind of suffering.
"For the first time in eight months, God, I heard Him cry. And he said 'My son, Kong, thank you. Thank you for going through this. I need you to go through this alone, so that you and City Harvest Church can be the man and the ministry I call it to be. I'm so sorry, but you need to go through this by yourself, to bring a change to your generation,” Kong said.
A spokesperson for the church later clarified in a statement that "the use of 'I'm so sorry' here is not in the context of an apology, but a word of comfort".
"It is in no way an apology or an admission of guilt as has been suggested," the spokesperson said. "The message God gave (Kong) was that it is necessary for him to journey through this painful experience because it is a refiner's fire, meant to prepare him for the work God has in store for him and the church for the future."
Kong appeared in high spirits as he walked into the Sub Courts on Monday morning at about 920am, accompanied by his pop-star wife Sun Ho.
Ex-finance manager Serina Wee arrived at about 9.05 am, with Kong Hee's deputy Tan Ye Peng trailing minutes later.
A long queue of over 50 supporters formed before dawn at the Subordinate Courts to show their support, reported local media.
Pastor and founder Kong Hee, 48, and four officers were charged last year with varying degrees of involvement in a scheme to siphon off S$24 million ($19 million) to finance the singing career of his wife, Sun Ho.
In addition, more than S$26 million in church money was allegedly misappropriated to cover up the original diversion.
Before the case was adjourned back in May, prosecutors alleged the accused channeled money allotted for the church's building into buying sham bond investments in church-linked companies so they could finance Ho's secular music career.
They allegedly falsified church accounts to make it appear the bonds were redeemed, in a practice the prosecutors called "round-tripping".
"These transactions were thus designed to throw the auditors off the scent of the bogus bonds," said Deputy Public Prosecutor Mavis Chionh.
Chionh said at the time the offences were "part of a deliberately planned, meticulously coordinated and carefully executed scheme which stretched over a period of time and involved the movement of millions of dollars".
The church, which has a membership of more than 30,000, has affiliates in neighbouring Malaysia and other countries.
It is known for services that resemble pop concerts and had assets estimated at more than Sg$100 million in 2009.
The pastor's wife, now in her early 40s, was hoping international stardom would help spread the church's message, according to previous reports in the Singapore media.
Last month, Kong Hee was back in the headlines after a YouTube video which went viral showed a Kong Hee hermon, in which he claimed that God had apologised to him for his struggles.
"'Father, Father, why, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me and thrown me to the dogs?'" he was recorded as saying, after relating the experience of Jesus Christ on the cross at his crucifixion and sharing that he identified with that kind of suffering.
"For the first time in eight months, God, I heard Him cry. And he said 'My son, Kong, thank you. Thank you for going through this. I need you to go through this alone, so that you and City Harvest Church can be the man and the ministry I call it to be. I'm so sorry, but you need to go through this by yourself, to bring a change to your generation,” Kong said.
A spokesperson for the church later clarified in a statement that "the use of 'I'm so sorry' here is not in the context of an apology, but a word of comfort".
"It is in no way an apology or an admission of guilt as has been suggested," the spokesperson said. "The message God gave (Kong) was that it is necessary for him to journey through this painful experience because it is a refiner's fire, meant to prepare him for the work God has in store for him and the church for the future."
