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Tag Archives: City Harvest Church

City Harvest case: Appeal hearings set for September before a three-judge panel

27 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 & Pringles Associations, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

appeal, CHC, City Harvest Church, hearings, Kong Hee, pre-trial, pre-trial conference

The Straits Times reports:

City Harvest case: Appeal hearings set for September before a three-judge panel

SINGAPORE – The appeal hearings for the six City Harvest Church leaders have been set for Sept 19 to Sept 23. This was decided during a pre-trial conference on Monday (Jan 25), parties confirmed with The Straits Times.

The appeals will be heard before a three-judge panel, tentatively comprising Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin, Justice Woo Bih Li and Justice Chan Seng Onn.

Last October, the six accused – church founder Kong Hee, 51; deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, 43; former CHC fund manager Chew Eng Han, 55; former CHC finance managers Serina Wee, 39, and Sharon Tan, 40; and former CHC finance committee member John Lam, 47 – were found guilty of misusing around $50 million in church funds after a trial that stretched more than two years.

The church leaders were convicted of using church funds to further the music career of pastor-singer Ho Yeow Sun, Kong’s wife. This was allegedly done by funnelling $24 million into sham bonds to bankroll Ms Ho’s career. The accused then misused a further $26 million to cover their tracks.

All six were handed jail terms of between 21 months and eight years. Kong got the heaviest sentence as the alleged mastermind of Singapore’s largest charity financial scandal.

The prosecution, which called the sentences “manifestly inadequate” after asking for jail terms ranging from five to 12 years, is also appealing.

Source: Lim Yi Han, City Harvest case: Appeal hearings set for September before a three-judge panel, straitstimes.com, http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/city-harvest-case-appeal-hearings-set-for-september-before-a-three-judge-panel, Published 25/01/2016. (Accessed 26/01/2016.)

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City Harvest trial: Prosecution calls for 11 to 12 years’ jail for Kong Hee and church leaders

28 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 & Pringles Associations, Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

CHC, City Harvest Church, Kong Hee, prosecution

The Straits Times writes,

City Harvest trial: Prosecution calls for 11 to 12 years’ jail for Kong Hee and church leaders

Although Kong faced only three charges of criminal breach of trust, Presiding Judge See Kee Oon said he was the key man behind the scandal.
Although Kong faced only three charges of criminal breach of trust, Presiding Judge See Kee Oon said he was the key man behind the scandal.ST FILE PHOTO 

It asks that 4 leaders be jailed 11 to 12 years each; sentencing could be as early as Friday

The Public Prosecutor has asked for stiff sentences for all six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders, including the recommendation that church founder Kong Hee be sentenced to 11 to 12 years in jail, The Straits Times has learnt.

The six were found guilty last month of misusing some $50 million in church funds.

Of that, $24 million was used to bankroll the music career of Kong’s wife, singer-pastor Ho Yeow Sun.

Apart from Kong, 51, the prosecution also recommended a jail sentence of 11 to 12 years each for deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, 43; former CHC finance manager Serina Wee, 38; and former CHC fund manager Chew Eng Han, 55.

For former CHC finance committee member John Lam, 47, the prosecution asked for a jail sentence of eight to nine years.

WHAT THE PROSECUTION IS ASKING FOR

KONG HEE, 51
Founder and senior pastor of City Harvest Church (CHC)
Guilty of three charges of criminal breach of trust.
Sentence: 11 to 12 years

TAN YE PENG, 43
Deputy senior pastor
Guilty of six charges of criminal breach of trust and four charges of falsification of accounts.
Sentence: 11 to 12 years

SERINA WEE, 38
Former CHC finance manager
Guilty of six charges of criminal breach of trust and four charges of falsification of accounts.
Sentence: 11 to 12 years

CHEW ENG HAN, 55
Former CHC fund manager
Guilty of six charges of criminal breach of trust and four charges of falsification of accounts.
Sentence: 11 to 12 years

JOHN LAM, 47
Former CHC finance committee member
Guilty of three charges of criminal breach of trust.
Sentence: Eight to nine years

SHARON TAN, 40
Former CHC finance manager
Guilty of three charges of criminal breach of trust and four charges of falsification of accounts.
Sentence: Five to six years

The lightest sentence of five to six years was reserved for former CHC finance manager Sharon Tan, 40.

The prosecution handed in its written submissions on sentencing to the court on Nov 6.

The six are due back in court on Friday for oral submissions on sentencing.

It is the earliest date for the court to pass a sentence.

For the moment, only Kong and Chew have indicated that they are likely to appeal.

“I think it’s likely (for Kong to appeal) but I can’t confirm right now; realistically, we have to see what happens on Friday,” said Kong’s lawyer, Mr Jason Chan.

Chew told The Straits Times: “I am standing by my defence and what I testified during the trial, and will make an appeal.”

The defence has told the court repeatedly that CHC suffered no loss and the six accused had not profited from their crimes.

The church leaders were found guilty of varying counts of criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts.

A maximum cumulative sentence of 20 years can be imposed on the accused, in addition to a fine.

Kong faced only three charges of criminal breach of trust, which along with Lam, was the lowest number faced by the six accused.

But in his written judgment, Presiding Judge See Kee Oon pointed to Kong as the key man behind the scandal, writing that the charismatic church pastor had “acted consciously and dishonestly”.

“Kong Hee maintains that he is a pastor and not an expert in legality.

“But one does not need to be an expert in legality to appreciate certain fundamental aspects of honesty, truth and integrity,” the judge wrote.

Judge See added that the group used their positions in the church to shroud their crimes in secrecy.

“When shrouded under a cloak of invisibility, much like the mythical ring of Gyges, persons in such positions of power have no fear of accountability and tend to become their own worst enemies,” he wrote.

The ring of Gyges is a mythical artefact that grants its wearer the power to become invisible at will.

It was mentioned in Greek philosopher Plato’s Republic.

He wrote: “It has thus been wisely said that the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light, and if they choose not to come into the light they do so for fear that their deeds will be exposed, as they surely will in time.”

Source: Danson Cheong, The Straits Times, City Harvest trial: Prosecution calls for 11 to 12 years’ jail for Kong Hee and church leaders, http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/city-harvest-trial-prosecution-calls-for-stiff-sentences-for-kong-hee-and, Published 17/11/2015. (Accessed 27/11/2015.)

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Scipione & Baird AGAIN speaking at cult that covered up paedophilia

27 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 Singapore Scandal, Uncategorized

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

c3 church, City Harvest Church, kong hee scandal, Phil Pringle

Despite C3 Church being involved in various scandals and cover-ups over the years, the Premier of New South Wales, Mike Baird and the Commissioner of the New South Wales Police Force, Andrew Scipione continue to share a platform with Phil Pringle.

To this day, Phil Pringle still:

  1. likes to be endorsed by his convicted mentor David Yonggi Cho,
  2. continues to endorse his convicted protege, Kong Hee,
  3. continues to lie about the Singaporean authorities to his church as to why Kong Hee actually went to jail,
  4. continues to cover up a pedophile scandal he was personally involved in,

while taking advantage of the credibility of Andrew Scipione and Mike Baird.

Phil Pringle writes,

philpringle Great #c3Pathfinders full house breakfast with both NSW Premier @mikebairdmp & Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione sharing about leadership, family & their faith. #newdayleaders #C3churchhub

Source: Phil Pringle, Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/-hlBZFNP8D/, Accessed 26/11/2015.

proof_Instagram-Pringle-Scipione-Baird_26-11-2015

Since its inception,  the C3 movement has been heavily involved in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) cult and has heavily pushed its agenda around Australian churches. Very similar to a Masonic society, a trait of the NAR is their “organic” networks, one aspect being the Seven Mountain Mandate (7MM). (Kong Hee calls this the seven pillars of society and the cultural mandate.)

The 7MM is all about infiltrating what they call the “market place.” To infiltrate society (to take the city for God), the NAR and C3 teaches that Christians need to conquer the seven mountains of society: Art/Entertainment, Business, Church/Religion, Dissemination/News, Education, Family/Health, Government/Law.

False-Gospel_NAR

This explains Elise Boggs comment below on Phil Pringle’s instagram:

Leadership! My favorite word @philpringle . Thanks for the encouraging shout out at c3 global. Love that C3 has a marketplace ministry. #c3pathfinders #marketplaceinfluence

We speculate that the reason why Phil Pringle had both Baird and Scipione speaking was to demonstrate to his movement that C3 are making “Christian” inroads into the Government/Law mountain in their “marketplace ministry.”

While PathFinders will not specifically teach the 7MM to those who attend, C3 appears to be moulding its members to conform to the philosophies and pagan teachings of the NAR, specifically through its Bible (The Church mountain) and Arts colleges (Arts/Entertainment mountain).

The Seven Mountain Mandate cannot be supported by scripture as it’s an unbiblical system developed by Bill Bright and Loren Cunningham back in 1975. They both claim that God spoke to them.

There is a good chance that Andrew Scipione and Mike Baird may have been accidentally indoctrinated by Hillsong or C3 who have been pushing this anti-Christian, totalitarian doctrine for decades.

It is our hope and prayer that Scipione and Baird are not hoodwinked by these cults and instead start investigating them.

 

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BREAKING NEWS: Kong Hee sentenced eight years jail

20 Friday Nov 2015

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 & Pringles Associations, Pringle's Prophecies, Uncategorized

≈ 34 Comments

Tags

CHC, Chew Eng Han, City Harvest Church, John Lam, Kong Hee, Phil Pringle, prophecy, See Kee Oon, Serina Wee, Sharon Tan, Sun Ho, Tan Ye Peng

Channel News Asia has been continually reporting the unfolding of events in the Singapore courts of the sentencing of six City Harvest Church leaders.

Press report on Kong & cohorts back in court for oral submission

The judge has sentenced Kong Hee eight years jail in prison.

Kong Hee jailed Phil Pringle

This is the latest update:

City Harvest trial live updates: Leaders sentenced to jail

SINGAPORE: The six City Harvest leaders who were found guilty of criminal breach of trust and falsifying church accounts were on Friday (Nov 20) received jail terms of between 21 months and eight years.

3.00pm: The six leaders have been sentenced to between 21 months’ and eight years’ jail, with senior pastor Kong Hee receiving the heaviest sentence of eight years behind bars. Judge See Kee Oon said Kong Hee, the church’s founder, was found to be the most culpable among the convicted church leaders.

The bail for all six of them was extended, and the start of their jail terms have been deferred to Jan 11, 2016.

1.57pm: “For us ex-members we’ll leave it to the judge. We have to respect the Honour’s decision. As what the prosecutor says, we need to do it right now because it will have a great repercussion on other mega churches on what and what cannot be done,” said a man who identified himself as a former City Harvest member.

1.32pm: Judge says he will pass the sentence at 3pm.

1.28pm: Prosecution: “In pursuing the Crossover Project, the accused have clearly crossed so far over the line that a substantial sentence is certainly called for.”

1.04pm: Prosecution: “This Court has found that loans were sought from a number of individuals in order for Xtron to return the ARLA (Advance Rental Licence Agreement) to CHC… Tan Ye Peng sold his house to pay back. Well, the alternative was to come to court and admit what he has done.”

12.55pm: Prosecution: “We submit that nothing in their circumstances will render the “clang of the prison gates” so thunderous as to justify a short term of imprisonment.”

12.48pm: Prosecution: “Where an offence involves a breach of trust, this is generally treated as an aggravating factor. Its powerful influence is shown by the degree to which it
outweighs factors which would normally go in mitigation. Indeed, there is the paradox that some of the strongest factors in mitigation (unblemished career, model citizen, good employment record) are often present in these cases and yet do not tell greatly in the offender’s favour.”

“The reason is that positions of trust are not normally given to individuals unless they have unblemished references, and so the offence may be seen as a betrayal of those very basis of trust, and one of the burdens of a position of trust is an undertaking of incorruptibility.”

12.39pm: Prosecution: “As this Court has observed, each of the accused persons played their respective roles in a conspiracy with intent to cause wrongful loss to CHC and to defraud the auditors.”

“They did not merely wait passively for Kong Hee to instruct them to carry out each specific act and deception needed to drive the conspiracy forward. They took their own initiative to deceive and mislead the trusting members of CHC where necessary, and cannot escape responsibility for those acts.”

12.34pm: Prosecution: “Kong Hee intentionally fostered an organisational culture of
unquestioning trust in relation to the Crossover Project. He did so by capitalising on CHC’s collective fear of external attack in the wake of the Roland Poon incident, convincing members that they ought to simply trust CHC’s leaders to manage the Project without questioning their motives or reasons.”

12.27pm: Prosecution: “The criminal breach of trust offences which the accused persons committed involve the largest amount of charity funds ever misappropriated in Singapore’s legal history.”

“This long-running case involving criminal breach of trust by the most senior managers of a charity has clearly attracted public disquiet, and inevitably affects public confidence that funds donated for charitable purposes, especially to large and well-resourced charities, are managed honestly and properly safeguarded.”

12.11pm: Lawyer Andre Maniam said: “Serina Wee was not a parish priest commanding respect. Until she was charged, most of Singapore did not know who she was.”

“The accused believed it (the usage of the funds) was for an evangelistic purpose that was positively mandated by the vision and mission of CHC.”

11.55am: Serina Wee’s lawyer Andre Maniam said: “This is an unprecedented case. Neither the prosecution nor the defence has been able to turn up a precedent when Criminal Breach of Trust was committed by using a charity’s funds for its own purposes. We are in uncharted waters.”

11.17am: Lawyer N Sreenivasan: “Insofar as personal relationships are concerned, Tan Ye Peng’s former close relationship with Chew Eng Han has been affected. He feels sorry for what happened to Sharon and Serina.”

“He is not, he is not a participant in the heist of the century or other emotional words the prosecution has used.”

[…]

Source: By Vanessa Paige Chelvan, Justin Ong, Wendy Wong, Kimberly Spykerman, City Harvest trial live updates: Leaders sentenced to jail, News 5 and Ngau Kai Yan, Channel News Asia, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/city-harvest-trial-live/2277418.html, Published 20/11/2015 07:48, UPDATED: 20/11/2015 15:50. (Accessed 20/11/2015.)

 

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Another CHC insider exposes cult abuse in City Harvest Church

28 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by Nailed Truth in Uncategorized

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

A. R. Bernard, Bernard, CHC, CHC cult, chc insider, City Harvest Church, Ex-Charismatics, insider, Jayden, Kong Hee, Sun Ho

00CWCPortrait_INSIDER

From Ex-Charismatics,

I am a current City Harvest Church (CHC) member and still in my teens. I do feel anxious and am unsure why I feel this way. To be honest, I do not want to attend CHC and am aware that Kong Hee and the leadership are guilty for their fraud (and rightfully agree so), but I am coerced to attend CHC by my mother who remains a faithful follower even though me and my own father disagrees with CHC and accuse her of blind faith.

I attended CHC since 2002 when I was a kid. To me, staying in CHC or leaving would not make a difference in my thoughts towards them. Compared to Admin 1’s testimony (goo.gl/NDdXri), CHC now is not as “hard sell and forceful” as they used be during Admin 1’s days. However, there is that implicit pressure going on and I do feel stressful hanging out with my cell group (CG).

In the past, my dad had to disconnect the phone line because they kept calling me. As a 12 year old back then, it was really stressful. They would surround me in large groups, but today, my CG leaves me alone most of the time. My mother still coerces me to go, thinking that it can help me in my anxiety and fears. She thinks I’m a hermit. She also coerce my father to attend CHC and will nag and give him sleepless nights if he refuse to attend for too long.

I find their prosperity sermons boring, that it makes me want to sleep, because they always keep talking about the same things. Pastor Tan Ye Peng speaks the best in my opinion, while Kong Hee is just a savvy speaker. The preaching has been less doctrinal for the past 5 years, as most of the time was spent on praising Kong Hee and his wife, Sun Ho. I don’t care about their prosperity gospel much as I knew it was a lie from day one. I am content with what I have.

My connect group leader (different from cell group leader) keeps asking me to donate to this year’s building fund, claiming that I should donate out of “love for God”. On the stage, the message is about donating to receive financial blessings in return. Honestly, the “successful” testimonies they bring on stage are just 1 out of a 1000 people who donated, while the rest who donated suffered badly. It’s basically a sales pitch, a big propaganda machine. I don’t like it and that’s why I don’t tithe. And why should I since I don’t make any income?? They expect me to use my savings or money given to me by my parents. As my dad does not want to argue with my mom, he lets her be and lets her donate. He knew way long ago that the funds were channelled towards Sun Ho before they were exposed.

I lectured my connect group leader a few days ago, when he asked me about my view on the verdict. He isn’t in the position to comment back to me though since I was in CHC way longer than him. I just told him as a matter of fact, the this was indeed a breach of trust. I was very happy when Kong Hee and the leaders involved got arrested. They cheated me of my money when I was a kid.

Both of my mum’s first two cell group leaders left CHC and they were executive and board members. I am also aware the the cell group and connect group leaders themselves are controlled and pressured from the top.

When I tell my CG leader that I am stressed out, they can’t do anything much and my mum tells them that I have anxiety issues, not realising that CHC and she coercing me to go are the cause of it. I even have a psychiatrist letter proving I have that condition.

My mother however has it worse. Since attending CHC, she became very paranoid and very anxious. Anything that does not go her way smoothly, she will make the ridiculous claim that the Devil is acting against her, like having a minor car accident etc. Sometimes when she presses the wrong number on her mobile, she would blame the Devil for it. She keeps worrying about things and scolds me for being anxious when she in fact, is anxious herself! It’s hard to convince her to leave CHC but to be fair, her current CG people are moderate and many of them dislike Sun Ho’s antics.

When the judge said that Kong Hee was capitalising on people’s fear and paranoia to galvanize support for channeling funds in a discreet manner towards the crossover project, he was not wrong. Indeed, look at what Kong Hee has done to me and my mom now. When Kong Hee made the daring claim some time ago that God said sorry to him, he’s hallucinating! Sometimes I wonder if his dreams and visions are hallucinations or vain imaginations.

After the verdict, I saw the service live online where Kong Hee apologised and bowed his head to the congregation. However, his apology sounded more like he was sorry for the inconvenience caused rather than the fraud and the false doctrines he preached. A.R Bernard who is right now in Singapore, continues to praise Kong Hee and Sun Ho. The previous time he came, he even told the church to obey and trust Kong Hee fully.

I do want to leave CHC but I will do so when I get older as I do not want to cause myself anymore emotional turmoil as I am experiencing right now.

Regards,
Jayden (name has been changed to protect identity)

—————————–

We thank Jayden for sharing his testimony with us. Please pray for him and his family, and that the Lord will give him the courage to leave and guide him to the truth in His Word alone.

Source: From Ex-Charismatics, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/groups/c3churchwatch/permalink/1030406617015638/, Published 13:08 26/10/2015. (Accessed 27/10/2015.)

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Love not rejoicing in wrongdoing but in the truth: Roland Poon ‘vindicated’

26 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 & Pringles Associations, CHC Scandal

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

CHC, City Harvest Church, Mr Poon, poon, roland poon, vindicated

“[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth…” 1 Corinthians 13:6

To understand Roland Poon’s involvement in the City Harvest scandal, we would encourage you to read old news articles about him here:

The Dawning Truth: Valid Claims Made By Mr Roland Poon In Old Articles

The Straits Times reports,

Former church member Roland Poon who alleged funds misuse ‘vindicated’, says daughter

SINGAPORE – The businessman who charged in 2003 that City Harvest Church (CHC) was paying for Ms Ho Yeow Sun’s music career is now vindicated, said his daughter.

Back then, businessman Roland Poon alleged that church funds were being misused to finance the music career of Ms Ho, the wife of CHC founder Kong Hee.

Mr Poon, 66, eventually retracted his statement and apologised, but his comments would set off a chain of events leading to the criminal charges, according to the prosecution.

On Wednesday, the six accused in the long-running CHC trial were found guilty of all charges.

Mr Poon’s daughter, Ms Sharon Poon, told The Straits Times after the verdict: “I feel happy for my father that he is now vindicated, and that after 10 years, we now know that what he did was right.”

She said Mr Poon had been concerned about the outcome of the case and was “waiting for this day to happen”, adding: “Now, he can sleep in peace.”

“He was brave enough to come out about it. Now, I hope that they can apologise to him, if they still have the heart,” she said.

Mr Poon declined to comment when contacted.

WHY IT MATTERS: The City Harvest Church case

http://static.movideo.com/flash/movideo_player.swf

During the trial, much of the spotlight was cast on the Crossover Project – a plan started in 2002 to evangelise to the “unchurched” and woo non-converts, in particular youth – through Ms Ho’s secular pop music.

The project started on a high, and Ms Ho later went on to produce five albums and perform in 80 concerts as part of a worldwide outreach tour between October 2003 and May 2004 that drew some 140,000 supporters.

However, controversy surrounding the project had begun to brew since January 2003, when Mr Poon flagged the possible misuse of funds.

The project’s costs increased dramatically when the decision was made to break into the United States market. Songwriter and producer Wyclef Jean was hired in 2006 to help Ms Ho.

Criticism surged again in 2007, after the release of Ms Ho’s English single China Wine. In the risque music video, marketed for its “Asian-Reggae” fusion sounds, she is seen dancing in a skimpy outfit.

“If Sun made it in the US, it would open a big door for our missions,” Kong had said during the trial.

However, the court also heard that church members were supposedly encouraged to divert their tithes and donations to music production company Xtron to fund the mounting expenses of Ms Ho’s US album. Kong was also accused by former CHC fund manager Chew Eng Han, one of the defendants, of spending church money to buy Ms Ho’s earlier Mandarin albums, thereby inflating sales figures.

Source: By Ng Huiwen, Former church member Roland Poon who alleged funds misuse ‘vindicated’, says daughter, Straits Times, http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/former-church-member-who-alleged-funds-misuse-vindicated-says-daughter, Published 12:04 AM SGT 22/10/2015. (Accessed 26/10/2015.)

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Chris Rosebrough covers Kong Hee’s verdict… and Phil Pringle’s involvement.

26 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 & Pringles Associations, Sermon Reviews

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

c3 church, City Harvest Church, Fighting For the Faith, Kong Hee, Phil Pringle, verdict

“For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” – Luke 8:17

This scripture is very applicable to the charges against Kong Hee and cohorts.

03CWCPortrait_Phil Pringle

Targeted: Phil Pringle and his immoral involvement with the Kong Hee scandal. To this date, he has not told his congregation why Kong Hee was in trial and to this day, parades Kong Hee’s innocence.

Before the “Sermon review”, Chris Rosebrough decided to play audio segments of Phil Pringle. He has this to say about Phil Pringle before reviewing him, in light of the verdict.

“Now what we’re going to be listening to are two bits of audio from videos put out by, well Phil Pringle, who I think has a LOT to do- a LOT to do behind the scenes regarding Kong Hee and Sun Ho’s Crossover project- and was one of the men who was directly coaching and, um – leading, (you know, casting vision for Kong Hee).

And that is Phil Pringle of C3. And so these two have a tight friendship. And like I said, a few years back at the Presence Conference, one of the things that Kong Hee said was that it was Phil Pringle who got him into this mess. And I don’t think that was a slip. I think that was absolutely the truth.” 24:25

Last year we published a two part series from a C3 Church insider on Phil Pringle’s involvement with Kong Hee, Luke 8:17 being the scripture reference for the heading.

“For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest…” (Part 1)
“For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest…” (Part 2)

You might want to read those articles before listening to Chris Rosebrough’s review. His [Good] “Sermon Review” is by Dr. Paul Choo, who has proven to be a faithful shepherd in Singapore, exposing the prosperity wolf pack consisting of David Yonngi Cho, Kong Hee, Joseph Prince and so on.

This is another very important episode to tune into:

The Verdict On Kong Hee

Click Here to Download this episode

Program segments:

00:00:00 The Verdict on Kong Hee
00:44:47 Sermon Review: Prosperity Gospel by Dr. Paul Choo

Source: Chris Rosebrough, The Verdict On Kong Hee, Fighting for the Faith, http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/2015/10/the-verdict-on-kong-hee.html, Published 23/10/2015. (Accessed 24/10/2015.)

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Judge See Kee Oon’s assessment over CHC case

23 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 & Pringles Associations

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

assessment, case, CHC, Chew Eng Han, City Harvest Church, John Lam, Kong Hee, See Kee Oon, Serina Wee, Serina Wee Gek Yin, Sharon Tan, Tan Shao Yuen Sharon, Tan Ye Peng, trial

All of the CHC six were found guilty of all charges in court on 21st Oct 2015 .

Six Accused

Judge See Kee Oon has published material explaining his judgments and findings.

Judge See Kee Oon

Judge See Kee Oon


IN THE STATE COURTS OF THE REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

District Arrest Case 023145 of 2012 and others

Between

Public Prosecutor

And

(1) Lam Leng Hung
(2) Kong Hee
(3) Tan Shao Yuen Sharon
(4) Chew Eng Han
(5) Tan Ye Peng
(6) Serina Wee Gek Yin


ORAL JUDGMENT


PUBLIC PROSECUTOR
V
LAM LENG HUNG & 5 ORS


State Courts — District Arrest Case 023145 of 2012 and others
Presiding Judge See Kee Oon

21 Oct 2015 Judgment reserved.

Presiding Judge See Kee Oon:

Overview

1 This was a 140-day trial involving 43 charges against the 6 accused persons. They were tried primarily on charges of conspiring to commit criminal breach of trust (“CBT”) by dishonestly misappropriating funds belonging to City Harvest Church (“CHC”) that had been entrusted to one or more of them. There are two broad groups of charges involving CBT. The first group comprises the first to third charges and pertains to what have been referred to in the course of the trial as the “sham bond investments”. The second group comprises the fourth to sixth charges, pertaining to what has been termed “round-tripping”. A third group of charges, the seventh to tenth, concerns falsification of accounts in CHC’s books relating to the “round-tripping” transactions.

2 I do not propose to set out the evidence as it is lengthy and voluminous. It suffices to note that the main background facts are largely undisputed or uncontroversial. I will set out my findings in relation to the elements of the offence of CBT first, leaving aside the issue of the mens rea of dishonesty. I will then focus primarily on the extent of the accused persons’ knowledge and involvement in the plans to use funds belonging to CHC for the Crossover Project (“the Crossover”) and on whether their conduct in the circumstances shows that they had acted with dishonest intent.

Criminal breach of trust – elements

3 In relation to the elements of the offence of criminal breach of trust by an agent, leaving aside the mens rea element, I shall state my conclusions briefly. First, I am satisfied that Kong Hee, Tan Ye Peng (“Ye Peng”) and John Lam Leng Hung (“John Lam”) were, as members of CHC’s management board, each entrusted with dominion over CHC’s funds, whether in the Building Fund (“BF”) or the General Fund. Second, I am bound to hold that they were entrusted with such dominion in the way of their business as agents because, being board members, they were so entrusted in their capacities as agents of CHC. Third, I am satisfied that the various plans to use CHC’s funds amounted to putting these funds to unauthorised or wrong use.

“Wrong use” of CHC’s funds

4 The BF was a restricted fund that could be used only for building-related expenses or investments for financial return. I find that the Xtron and Firna bonds were not genuine investments but were a wrong use of the BF. I find also that Tranches 10 and 11 of the Special Opportunities Fund (“SOF”) were not genuine investments but were transactions designed to create the appearance that the Firna bonds had been redeemed. I find, finally, that the payment under the Advance Rental Licence Agreement (“ARLA”) was not abuilding-related expense but was a transaction designed to perpetuate the appearance that the Firna bonds had been redeemed. They were therefore all wrong uses of CHC’s funds.

5 I turn next to the accused persons’ involvement and knowledge in the various plans to use CHC’s funds.

Funding the Crossover – being discreet

6 The accused persons understood that Kong Hee’s preference to be discreet about the funding for the Crossover was for the sake of ensuring the success of the Crossover, but being discreet was also synonymous with non-disclosure and mis-statements. Kong Hee had explained that it was his preference to avoid disclosure of CHC’s involvement in Xtron to avoid any misconception that Sun Ho’s secular music career was “not real” and that CHC was (still) using its money to promote her career. But in relation to both aspects, the evidence shows that it was true that her perceived success was inflated from rather more modest levels and Xtron and the Crossover team had to rely heavily on sponsorship from CHC members or supporters to help prop up her album sales and promote her career. When these sources of financial support which did not directly flow from CHC were insufficient, they had to come up with other means.

Xtron bonds

7 Xtron was CHC’s special purpose vehicle for the Crossover, and for this purpose Xtron was clearly under CHC’s control and not independent. The plan formulated in 2007 was that CHC’s funds, specifically funds from the BF, would be channelled through Xtron to be used for the Crossover, and the use of the funds was controlled entirely by Kong Hee and his team. In truth, this was analogous to an elaborate extension of a pattern of financial assistance via “sponsorship”, lending or prepayment to Xtron that had already either been taking place or been contemplated prior to 2007. These were seen as short-term measures to put Xtron in funds and support the Crossover. The mindset was thus that the Xtron bond issues were only yet another “temporary plan” albeit one which involved borrowing from CHC’s BF, and hoping that the funds would somehow find their way back to CHC at some unspecified future point.

8 Kong Hee, Ye Peng, Chew Eng Han (“Eng Han”) and Serina Wee (“Serina”) each clearly played a substantial role in conceiving and executing this plan to channel CHC’s BF through Xtron for the Crossover. John Lam’s role was evidently less substantial, but I am satisfied that he had his own part to play as a board member and investment committee member. All of them knew that the BF was a restricted fund to be used only for specific purposes. They claim that they believed the Xtron bonds were genuine investments. They believed the Xtron bonds would bring CHC financial return. But on my evaluation of the evidence I consider that the prosecution has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that they did not hold that belief.

9 I find that the accused persons were planning on the basis of Sun Ho’s planned US Crossover album being realistically capable of generating sales of

only 200,000 units, and although their projections showed that the bonds could not be redeemed by the maturity date, they were unconcerned since Eng Han assured them that the maturity date for the bonds could always be extended or fresh bonds could be issued. I am unconvinced that they could have had a genuine belief in Sun Ho’s prospects of success for the US Crossover given their consciousness that much of her earlier success was contrived and contributed to by CHC itself. Serina readily conceded that Sun Ho’s Asian Crossover albums all made losses and Xtron had thus incurred substantial accumulated net losses. Kong Hee, Ye Peng, Eng Han and John Lam also knew that CHC was involved in propping up her Mandarin album sales. I am unable to see how there can be any genuine or honest grounds for their claims that they expected far higher sales for her planned US album well in excess of the projection of 200,000 units. This was no more than an optimistic hope. It was definitely not a realistic expectation. All this strongly militates against their claims that the Xtron bonds were motivated by the realistic prospect of financial return and were genuine investments.

10 Further, the accused persons were all involved in making plans to put Xtron in funds to redeem the bonds. They knew that these plans would involve CHC paying money to Xtron under the guise of legitimate transactions, when in fact the real concern was Xtron’s cashflow difficulties and the purported transactions were mere excuses for CHC to channel money to Xtron. Thus they knew that there was a strong possibility that the apparent financial return under the Xtron bonds would come from CHC itself. This knowledge further undermines their claim that they believed the Xtron bonds were a genuine investment.

11 In addition, the accused persons hid or obscured material information from others. Eng Han and John Lam kept the truth about the Xtron bonds from Charlie Lay. All of them at various times gave the auditors the impression that CHC and Xtron were independent of each other, when they knew that Kong Hee in fact made all decisions on Xtron’s behalf in relation to the Crossover without reference to the Xtron directors, who were mere figureheads. The auditors were not told that Xtron was in fact controlled by Kong Hee and Ye Peng and that they together with their co-accused would exercise control over the use of the bond proceeds. There is no doubt that they knew that they had something to hide.

12 In all the circumstances, I am satisfied that the accused persons knew that the Xtron bonds were conceived first and foremost to support the Crossover and not for financial return. The prospect of any financial return was a secondary consideration at best and even then I do not accept that they genuinely believed that the sale of Sun Ho’s music albums would generate sufficient profit for CHC to enjoy financial return. They knew that any financial return to CHC might be illusory in the sense that it was CHC’s own money that might need to be channelled to Xtron to redeem the bonds. Given their knowledge, I cannot accept their claims that they believed the Xtron bonds were a genuine investment. Accordingly, they caused CHC to subscribe to $13 million in Xtron bonds knowing that they were not legally entitled to do so. Thus they acted dishonestly, and I find that the first and second charges have been made out against John Lam, Kong Hee, Eng Han, Ye Peng and Serina.

Firna bonds

13 In respect of the Firna bonds, the accused persons all knew that the primary purpose of the bonds was also to channel money from CHC’s BF to the Crossover. Kong Hee, Ye Peng, Eng Han and Serina knew that they, and not Wahju, were the ones controlling the Firna bond proceeds and deciding how the proceeds should be applied towards the Crossover. Yet they took the inaccurate position that Wahju was somehow “independently” supporting the Crossover using his “personal monies”, and this was what they told the auditors and lawyers. They knew that the financial return under the Firna bonds would not come from the profits of Firna’s glass factory business but depended entirely on the success of the Crossover. If the revenue from Sun Ho’s albums was not adequate, they would find alternative sources of funds for Firna, and that might include channelling CHC’s own money into Firna through various means. Given this knowledge, I do not think Kong Hee, Eng Han, Ye Peng and Serina could have believed that the Firna bonds would generate financial return for CHC, and so they could not have believed that the bonds were a genuine investment.

14 John Lam was further removed from the Firna bonds than the other accused persons. But he signed the “secret letter” that secured the signature of Wahju’s father-in-law on the Firna BSA. I am satisfied that he knew that the prospect of financial return for CHC did not depend on the success of Firna’s glass factory business. He knew that it was a very real possibility that the Crossover would not be profitable. Thus I find that he too did not believe that the Firna bonds would generate financial return for CHC, meaning that he did not think the bonds were a genuine investment.

15 Therefore, in causing CHC to subscribe to $11 million in Firna bonds, the accused persons knew that they were not legally entitled to do so. They thus acted dishonestly. As such, I find that the third charge has been made out against John Lam, Kong Hee, Eng Han, Ye Peng and Serina.

16 At the centre of the first to third charges is how the BF came to be applied for the Crossover when it was a restricted fund for specific purposes – either for building or investment. In my judgment, the Crossover was not one of these purposes. It was not an investment since by their own characterisation, it was meant to serve a “missions” purpose all along. I am not convinced that there was any “mixed motive”, “dual purpose” or “hybrid” intent behind the use of the BF. These are creative labels tacked on in an attempt to strain and stretch the plain meaning of the word “investment”. They were plainly fabricated in an attempt to justify their past conduct and misuse of the BF. I do not see how they can be said to have acted in good faith in relation to the charges they face.

17 The accused persons have of course pointed to the fact that the money did come back to CHC with interest. However, this is patently due to their efforts to put Xtron, Firna and AMAC in funds to facilitate these repayments through the round-tripping transactions. It does not confirm that there was any actual intention at the outset to invest for the purpose of maximising returns. What is more telling is that it was consistently represented to CHC’s Executive Members that investing the BF in this fashion was meant to maximise returns. There was no mention at all that the investment was in the Crossover, let alone that it was for “spiritual returns” or for both spiritual and financial return from the Crossover. The failure to mention those facts buttresses my conclusion that the accused persons knew that they were not legally entitled to cause CHC to enter into the Xtron and Firna bonds.

Round-tripping and falsification of accounts

18 As revealed by the evidence adduced at trial, there was never any financial “return” derived from any of Xtron’s and Firna’s Crossover-related activities. Instead, when the time came to deal with the auditors’ queries and to address Sim Guan Seng’s concerns, they resorted to removing more funds from the BF and also the General Fund under the pretext of making further “investments” into Tranches 10 and 11 of the SOF and purportedly for a building purchase by Xtron through the ARLA. The round-tripping transactions were crafted to create the appearance that these were genuine transactions involving the redemption of bonds when they were not. They were not genuine transactions because the accused persons controlled these transactions every step of the way, and the substance of it was that CHC was channelling money through various conduits in order to pay itself.

19 Given that Ye Peng, Eng Han, Serina and Sharon Tan (“Sharon”) were fully aware of the whole series of transactions, they could not have believed that Tranches 10 and 11 of the SOF were genuine investments, or that the payment under ARLA was a building-related expense. They say that they viewed all this as “restructuring”, but that to my mind is fundamentally inconsistent with a belief that the transactions were genuine investments or building-related expenses, and this inability to provide a coherent explanation for their conduct strongly suggests that they knew they were not legally entitled to cause CHC to enter into these transactions. They may have apprised the CHC board of an earlier version of the transactions, but they kept that knowledge from the lawyers and the auditors. Taking into account all the circumstances, I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the fourth to sixth charges have been made out against them.

20 I am also satisfied that there was falsification of CHC’s accounts following from the attempts to disguise the SOF and ARLA transactions as genuine transactions. In relation to the ninth charge, the accounting entry recording a redemption of Xtron bonds in the form of a set-off against advance rental was false, because it was not a case of CHC and Xtron making independent decisions to pay advance rental on one hand and redeem bonds on the other. I find that the accused persons knew that false accounting entries would have to be made pursuant to their plan to create the appearance of redemption of bonds, and hence I find that they each had intent to defraud. I am therefore satisfied that the seventh to tenth charges have been made out against Ye Peng, Eng Han, Serina and Sharon.

Objective evidence and inferences

21 I note that there was an extensive record which comprised an elaborate patchwork of emails, Blackberry messages, phone SMSs, hard copy documents and numerous other documented exchanges in some form or other. The fact that there was a mass of available evidence which when woven together amounted to a paper trail is not necessarily indicative of innocence. In my view insofar as much of it was incriminating, it is more suggestive of a mindset of presumptuousness or boldness, demonstrating that the accused persons were overconfident in their belief that they could replace the funds in time before suspicions were aroused.

22 The case against the accused persons depended heavily on inferences to be drawn from the objective evidence. Much of these inferences can be readily drawn as the tenor and language in the communications adduced at trial strongly point to their dishonest intent. In short, the documentary evidence goes a long way in demonstrating their subjectively guilty knowledge. I am not convinced that they have raised any reasonable doubt in this regard.

23 I find that the accused persons were variously inextricably entangled in two conspiracies to misuse CHC’s funds. One conspiracy consisted of misusing BF monies for the Crossover, and the other involved misusing CHC’s funds, a substantial portion of which comprised BF monies, to create the appearance of bond redemptions and to defraud the auditors via falsified accounts through the various roles they played. Each of them participated and functioned in their own way as crucial cogs in the machinery. Although there are distinctions in their respective levels of knowledge and participation, I am unable to discern any rational basis to exclude any of them from being implicated and characterised as conspirators.

Beliefs, motives and mindsets

24 Much of the defence centred on the beliefs and motivations of the accused persons. If it can be shown that they genuinely, honestly and reasonably held the view that what they were doing was legitimate in the sense that they were legally entitled to do it, and they went ahead to act in good faith as a result, I think there may well be room for doubt as to whether they had acted dishonestly. The weight of the evidence however points to a finding that they knew they were acting dishonestly and I am unable to conclude otherwise.

25 Where professional advice was sought, this was really mainly an attempt to seek out self-supporting confirmatory advice based on selectively-
disclosed information. They omitted mention of the crucial fact that CHC remained in control of Xtron and would correspondingly control the use of the funds. They provided leading questions for belief confirmation and support from only those advisors whom they trusted to support the Crossover vision and were quick to reject or filter out any disconfirming information.

26 The accused persons chose to support the Crossover vision and to act and participate in acts in support of it. The Crossover became a comprehensive logic for justifying their beliefs and actions, and for doing whatever was expedient for its advancement. The pervasive mindset seemed to be one of short-term expediency; the use of means involving dubious methods was worth the risk to them if there was some hope of longer-term gain.

Conclusion

27 In their defence, all the accused persons testified largely to the same effect: they love CHC and would not have wished to do harm to CHC. They never intended to cause loss to CHC. They consulted and cleared their proposals with their lawyers, the auditors and the CHC Board. They were motivated by CHC’s cultural mandate and they believed in the Crossover vision. They pointed to pure motives and a justifiable purpose in the use of CHC’s funds. Ultimately the funds which were removed were for Church purposes and were returned to CHC.

28 The crux of their defence was that there was no conspiracy and no dishonesty. All six would never intend to cause harm or loss to CHC and the ultimate objectives were in furtherance of the Great Commission. It may be arguable that all of them thought they were not acting dishonestly to cause wrongful loss since no permanent loss was intended, but this was premised on their unquestioning trust and belief in Kong Hee and their confidence that the Crossover would succeed. Thus they convinced themselves that it was both morally and legally permissible to temporarily use the money from CHC’s funds when they knew it was not.

29 The accused persons chose to engage in covert operations and conspiratorial cover-ups. They contrived to create cover stories and clever round-trips concealing their unlawful conduct. They chose to participate in the conspiracy to misuse CHC’s funds, which included siphoning off large amounts from the BF for Sun Ho’s music career and eventually for the round-tripping transactions to enable the bond redemptions. They chose to defraud the auditors with falsified accounts suggesting a series of genuine transactions for the redemption of bonds and advance rental. The evidence points overwhelmingly to a finding that they had all acted dishonestly and in breach of the trust reposed in them and they played their respective roles in a conspiracy with intent to cause wrongful loss to CHC and to defraud the auditors.

30 I am therefore satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the six accused persons are guilty of all the charges that have been brought against them. I note that all of them believed that they had acted in what they considered to be the best interests of CHC. There is no evidence of any wrongful gain – that was never the prosecution’s case in any event as the charges were premised on wrongful loss caused to CHC through the misappropriation of CHC’s funds.

31 I consider that John Lam, Eng Han, Serina and Sharon were all acting in accordance with the instructions of people they considered to be their spiritual leaders deserving of their trust and deference, and Ye Peng, although a leader in his own right, similarly trusted completely the leadership of Kong Hee. But no matter how pure the motive or how ingrained the trust in one’s leaders, regardless of the context in which that trust operates, these do not exonerate an accused person from criminal liability if all the elements of an offence are made out. In my judgment all the elements of the relevant offences have indeed been made out. Accordingly, the accused persons stand convicted as follows:

(a) John Lam is convicted on the first to third charges;

(b) Kong Hee is convicted on the first to third charges;

(c) Sharon is convicted on the fourth to tenth charges;

(d) Eng Han is convicted on the first to tenth charges;

(e) Ye Peng is convicted on the first to tenth charges; and

(f) Serina is convicted on the first to tenth charges.


Source: PDF, https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3A-00dAvijTNXAyaGEyLUtZdW8/view?pli=1. (Accessed 23/10/2015.)

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Sun Ho releases CHC statement

23 Friday Oct 2015

Posted by Nailed Truth in C3 & Pringles Associations

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

c3 church, CHC, City Harvest Church, Sun Ho

Pastrix “Can-we-shut-the-mouths-of-all-these-haters?” Sun Ho writes,

Trial Verdict: A Statement From The Church Leaders

Dear Church Family,

The judge has rendered his decision and, naturally, we are disappointed by the outcome. Nonetheless, I know that Pastor Kong and the rest are studying the judgment intently and will take legal advice from their respective lawyers in the days to come.

As was the case throughout these past three years of court trial, and the earlier two years of investigation, we have placed our faith in God and trust that whatever the outcome, He will use it for our good (Romans 8:28). This protracted season has been extremely difficult, not just for the six, but also for all their families and friends, as well as for our congregation.

In spite of these challenges, City Harvest Church has an unshakeable calling from God. Recently, Pastor Kong has exhorted us to focus on our core values, and serve the purpose of God with greater effectiveness and sustainability. Since 2012, we have had a new management and a new Church Board running the operations of the church. Therefore, let’s stay the course with CHC 2.0. God is making us stronger, purer and more mature as a congregation.

Thank you for your unwavering faithfulness in loving God and loving one another. More than ever before, let’s have a unity that is unbreakable. We are not alone as many of our friends and churches around the world are also interceding fervently for us. God knows the way that we take; when He has tested us, we shall come forth as gold (Job 23:10).

Pastor Kong and I are humbled by the tremendous outpouring of love and support shown to us during this time. We thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for Pastor Kong, Pastor Tan, John Lam, Sharon, Serina and Eng Han.

In Christ’s love, for His glory,

Sun Ho
Co-Founder/Executive Director
On behalf of CHC Management Board

Source: Sun Ho, Trial Verdict: A Statement From The Church Leaders, http://www.chc.org.sg/, Accessed 22/10/2015.

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BREAKING NEWS: The six [CHC] accused are found guilty of ALL charges against them: Judge See.

21 Wednesday Oct 2015

Posted by Nailed Truth in CHC Scandal

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Chew Eng Han, City Harvest Church, guilty, Kong Hee, Phil Pringle, Serina Wee, Tan Ye Peng

Phil Pringle, you have a LOT of explaining to do.


Straits Times reports,

13:06

Happening now: City Harvest trial

The six accused are found guilty of ALL charges against them, says Judge See.
For a recap of the charges each are facing, read: http://str.sg/ZLf8

Source: Straits Times, http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/st-now-news-as-it-happens-oct-21-2015, Accessed 21/10/2015.

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