Tag Archives: foong daw ching

CHC Trial: Rabbit Holes, Bunny Trails & Faerie Tails?

06 Thursday Feb 2014

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Channel NewsAsia reports,

CHC trial: Audit manager not privy to investment details

The audit manager overseeing City Harvest Church’s accounts testified on Wednesday that she had not been privy to details of bond investments or arrangements the church had made.

SINGAPORE: The audit manager overseeing City Harvest Church’s accounts testified on Wednesday that she had not been privy to details of bond investments or arrangements the church had made.

The court heard from Mdm Foong Ai Fang of Baker Tilly that the six church leaders accused of misusing millions of the church’s building fund had left out details of the investment in Xtron bonds.

Xtron is a firm that used to manage singer Sun Ho’s music career.

The prosecution alleges that it is one of the firms used to cover up the misuse of church funds by Ms Ho’s husband and church founder, Kong Hee, and his five deputies through “sham bond investments”.

Mdm Foong, who was the liaison between the auditing team and the church, said that she had no clue when the bonds were redeemed or that arrangements were made for them to be redeemed.

The prosecution took her through several emails and minutes of meetings, as it sought to prove that the six church leaders provided little or left out key information to mislead auditors.

Source: CHC trial: Audit manager not privy to investment detail, Channel NewsAsia, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/chc-trial-audit-manager/981548.html, 05/02/2014 14:00. (Accessed 07/02/2014.)

Channel NewsAsia further reports

CHC trial: Auditors knew about bond investments, say defence lawyers

SINGAPORE: The defence representing the six leaders of the City Harvest Church on Thursday said that the auditors from Baker Tilly hired to go through the church’s books were kept informed of its bond investments.

The lawyer of accused Sharon Tan, Mr Kannan Ramesh, took the lead in the cross-examination of audit manager Mdm Foong Ai Fang.

Through various email exchanges between the church leaders and the auditors, Mr Ramesh sought to show that the entire auditing team had access to information about the bond investments made by the church, from as early as March 2008.

The church had subscribed to bonds in Xtron, the former management firm of singer Sun Ho, for S$13 million.

The agreement was dated August 17, 2007. In particular, the defence brought up a document where a member of the audit team received a copy of the agreement five days later, on August 22, 2007.

On Wednesday, Mdm Foong had testified she had not been privy to details of the bond subscription agreement.

Another point made by the defence — that auditor Mr Foong Daw Ching, who is also Mdm Foong’s brother, had been the overall in-charge when it came to matters relating to the church and Xtron.

In statements and emails raised by the defence, the court heard that Mr Foong had described himself as the consultant partner to the whole of the church’s group of companies. But when asked, Mdm Foong denied having any knowledge of this.

She added that Mr Foong was not involved in the audits of the church or Xtron.

The defence’s case is that the six leaders had sought professional advice from Mr Foong on the various matters, including the bond investments and that they were approved by the auditors.

It is also arguing that Mdm Foong and her team knew that Xtron had raised funds by selling bonds to the church and that this money went into the production of Ms Ho’s album.

Church founder Kong Hee and five deputies are accused of misusing millions of the church’s building fund to boost the career of Ms Ho, through the use of “sham bond investments”.

Source: CHC trial: Auditors knew about bond investments, say defence lawyers, Channel NewsAsia, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/chc-trial-auditors-knew/983400.html, 06/02/2014 14:07. (Accessed 07/02/2014.)

And God Told Pringle That Kong Would Not Be “Behind Bars”

26 Sunday Jan 2014

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We hope that Senior District Judge See Kee Oon takes note of Mr Foong claiming God spoke to him saying, “Son, speak to the judge”.

Foong later claimed, “initially I was quite upset, but then I know where they are coming from… They are definitely very troubled”. The “troubled” that Foong mentioned were “two defendants” that “came to [his] office seeking prayer”. So God wanted Foong Daw Ching to say to the judge that those two defendants are “are definitely very troubled”?

Who does Foong Daw Ching think he is?

Isn’t this cult-like behaviour to use God to speak like this to a judge? In Foong’s mind, who is this judge to now think he has the right to have an opinion on these “two defendants” contrary to what God said to him?

And since God is speaking to Foong Daw Ching, why doesn’t he ask God to fix his faulty memory so he can help the court?

We bring this to our readers attention for this reason: CHC’s Advisory Pastor, CHC ‘Apostle’ and ‘Prophet’ gave this “Apostolic proclamation and blessing” over Kong Hee and Sun Ho back in his 2011 Presence Conference.

“In Jesus name, Father we pronounce victory. [Crowd cheers]. We pronounce conquering. We pronounce deliverance in JESUS NAME. NOT ONE NIGHT WILL THIS FAIR HEAD SPEND BEHIND BARS. LORD GOD YOUR NAME IS EXALTED. YOU WILL GLORIFY THE NAME OF JESUS to this great man and his wife and that awesome church that they have built by the power of God and in the name of Jesus…” [Read/Listen to more here]

We’ve revealed that Phil Pringle of the C3 Church movement has mislead the general Singaporean public about his past, which has led many in CHC to believe he is an “Apostle”. We have continually revealed that Pringle has uttered false prophecies proving he is a false prophet. We have continually exposed how he uses his platform, prophecies and pouts to discredit anyone who has issues with his leadership. In fact, we know that he has huge issues with people (especially his leaders) visiting our site. In his eyes (or God’s) we are “very troubled”. And Pringle’s henchmen and members continually defend what “God is doing” at C3 and dismiss those that oppose them as “troubled”. This attitude is also evident as we have now seen in CHC leadership.

Is this not the height of arrogance? Should we be surprised the world mocks the church for this ludicrousy? Should we be shocked that Jesus calls those who “prophesy”, those who claim to “hear God” and “speak on his behalf” “lawless ones”? (Matt 7:15-23.)

We hope that the court comes to realise they are not dealing with a biblical ‘elder’.  They are not dealing with ‘pastors’ of a ‘church’. They are dealing with leaders of a cult. This means Foong Daw Ching fails the biblical requirements laid out in Titus 1:5-9. Specifically, he is disqualified as an elder (see bold),

“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

A true biblical elder would NOT remain in a church like CHC that continually desecrates the name of Jesus, His gospel and His Word. As we’ve seen, the CHC leadership is not even faithful with the basic handling of God Himself and His Holy scriptures. If a cult like this can get away with mishandling the basics of the Christian faith (either deliberately or unintentionally), it is only a matter of time before they are back in the courts over another issue that is badly mishandled. The Singaporean churches and the government need to approach issues within CHC with much wisdom.

The Straits Times reports,

Auditor: God told me to speak to the judge

SINGAPORE – Court proceedings for the City Harvest trial kicked off on Thurday with a surprise request by prosecution witness Foong Daw Ching to tell the judge “something from my heart”.

Senior District Judge See Kee Oon allowed it.

Mr Foong said that while he was sleeping the night before, “this voice kept coming to me, and as a Christian, I believe this voice must be from God. He said, ‘Son, speak to the judge.'”

The 63-year-old auditor said he was “hurt” that in the past few days, the defence accused him of distancing himself from City Harvest Church. He then pointed out that two of the accused had, in fact, taken advantage of him during a recent meeting.

Mr Foong had met John Lam and Tan Ye Peng last December to discuss the case. It was revealed this week that the two church leaders filed their own notes on what Mr Foong said in case he changed his tune.

Mr Foong said they did not tell him they were taking notes. They had asked to meet him to pray together, and he agreed as he is “an elder and a Christian counsellor”.

“Two of the defendants came to my office seeking prayer, yet they took the opportunity to record, thinking that I may say something otherwise.. for some safety,” he said.

When he found out about this during the trial, “initially I was quite upset, but then I know where they are coming from… They are definitely very troubled”, he said.

Mr Foong also wanted to restate what he knew about the six accused and City Harvest, but the judge disallowed it as the defence is still cross-examining him.

Defence lawyers have sought to show that church leaders looked up to Mr Foong and trusted his advice, and that his consistent denial that he gave them detailed guidance on various transactions was “breaking their hearts”.

Tessa Wong, Auditor: God told me to speak to the judge, The Straits Times, http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/auditor-god-told-me-speak-judge, Sep 22, 2013. (Accessed 27/01/2014.)

Kong Hee’s Court Case Goes On

14 Tuesday Jan 2014

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The courts have recently opened again for the case. Here are some articles we found that examined the issues in court.

The Straits Times reports,

City Harvest trial: Church funds used as early as in 2001 to fund Ho Yeow Sun’s music career

“City Harvest Church funds were already used as early as in 2001 to fund the secular pop music career of founder Kong Hee’s wife Ho Yeow Sun, court documents showed on Tuesday.

An item in the church’s 2001 audit indicated “cost of production – MTV”. That audit was managed by Baker Tilly’s Ms Tiang Yii, who continued on the stand for a second day as a prosecution witness in the ongoing trial against Kong and five others for varying counts of criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts.

Ms Tiang was later the engagement partner for the church from January 2006 to June 2007, and for music production firm Xtron from January to December 2007.

Defence counsel Andre Maniam, who represents former church finance manager Serina Wee, argued that Ms Tiang’s awareness of such investments meant it would not come as a surprise to her when told by Wee that the church had invested monies from their Building Fund in $13 million bond purchases in Xtron in 2007 and 2008.

However, in a heated cross-examination earlier by defence counsel N. Sreenivasan, who represents the church’s deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, Ms Tiang insisted that she had not raised any warnings or red flags because Wee had only told her “verbally”, without any corresponding documentation for the church’s 2008 financial year audit.

“We didn’t have the information at the time; it was all preliminary information gathering,” Ms Tiang said. “The agreement that we saw for Xtron’s side did not say where the source of the City Harvest Church funds were from … That’s only verbal representation (for) which we have to seek corroborative evidence.”

Mr Sreenivasan countered: “So if somebody tells you that $1 million has been stolen, as auditor you will wait for corroborative evidence before you do anything?”

Source: By Feng Zengkun, City Harvest trial: Church funds used as early as in 2001 to fund Ho Yeow Sun’s music career, Straits Times, http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/chc-funds-case/story/city-harvest-trial-kong-hee-offered-step-down-minimise-conflict-i, Published 14/01/2014. (Accessed 14/01/2014.)

Today Online reports,

Auditor grilled in trial of City Harvest Church leaders

Auditor knew church funds were being misused to boost Sun Ho’s music career since 2001, defence claims

SINGAPORE — The trial of the six leaders of City Harvest Church continued today (Jan 14) with fiery exchanges between the defence and prosecution during the cross-examination of the church’s auditor.

The defence grilled Ms Tiang Yii on how she tried to distance herself from fellow auditor Foong Daw Ching, who is also a prosecution witness.

Mr Foong had testified in the second leg of the trial. Like Ms Tiang, he was the church’s external auditor.

After much grilling, Ms Tiang agreed with the defence.

The defence also made the point that Ms Tiang had known from as early as 2001 that church funds were used to produce singer Sun Ho’s music album.

Ms Ho’s husband and church founder Kong Hee, along with five deputies, is accused of misusing millions of church funds to boost her career. CHANNEL NEWSASIA

Source: By Claire Huang Jingyi, Auditor grilled in trial of City Harvest Church leaders, Today Online, http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/auditor-grilled-trial-city-harvest-church-leaders, Published 14/01/2014 3:18 PM. (Accessed 15/04/2014.)

From Kong To Foong: “Sun & I Are Even Willing To Resign From The Management Board of CHC”

13 Monday Jan 2014

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We somehow missed publishing this curious article from the ST. What is striking in this article is Kong Hee’s comment to “resign from the Management Board of CHC if that would help diffuse the semblance of any conflict of interest on her part”.

Was he only trying to legally cover himself back then in case things got out of control further down the track? You’d think that when he was under investigation and while the court proceedings are taking place he could have willingly stepped down to diffuse “the semblance of any conflict of interest”. So when Kong was asked to step down, why didn’t he? Conflict of interest maybe?

If you’re not sure what we are talking about you will understand what we are on about in an upcoming article.

The Straits Times reports,

City Harvest trial: Kong Hee offered to step down to minimise conflict of interest

City Harvest founder Kong Hee was once so concerned about possibly bringing harm to the church that he offered to step down from its management board, said defence lawyers on Tuesday during an ongoing criminal trial into him and five of his deputies.

Kong Hee expressed his concerns about a year before a series of investments were made, which the State believes were shams meant to funnel church funds illegally to wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun’s career. He asked auditor Foong Daw Ching in an email in 2006, whether Ms Ho receiving a salary from church-linked firm Xtron Productions would pose a problem. Xtron was managing Ms Ho’s music career at the time.

“Sun is paid totally from non-CHC (City Harvest Church) sources… (but) I’m personally very troubled as I don’t wish to bring any potential reproach to the church or its various ministry. If there is simply no way out… Sun and I are even willing to resign from the Management Board of CHC, if that would help diffuse the semblance of any conflict of interest on her part,” he wrote.

Mr Edwin Tong, defence lawyer for Kong, also tried to show that Mr Foong the auditor knew more about the investments than he let on. Several of the six accused had written e-mails saying Mr Foong had endorsed or given advice about the investments, although Mr Foong insisted that these were inaccurate.

Mr Tong said it was “incredible” that the auditor did not seem to recall reading any of the emails he had been sent regarding the transactions, given that the church was a “major” client of the firm.

Mr Foong replied that City Harvest’s audit team was led by another person at his firm whom he would have deferred to, and he had his own “heavy” portfolio of clients at the time.

Source: Feng Zengkun, City Harvest trial: Kong Hee offered to step down to minimise conflict of interest, Straits Times, http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/chc-funds-case/story/city-harvest-trial-kong-hee-offered-step-down-minimise-conflict-i, Published on Sep 17, 2013. (Accessed 14/01/2014.)

EDIT 15/01/2014: Today Online provides deeper coverage,

Kong Hee offered to step down from church board in 2006 email

SINGAPORE — City Harvest Church (CHC) co-founders Kong Hee and his wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun, were open to resigning from its management board to avoid potential reproach to the church arising from her singing career, the court heard yesterday.

Kong had told auditors this in a July 23, 2006, email about a year before the church made investments that prosecutors are alleging were sham deals to channel church funds to Ms Ho’s pop career. He wrote that he was “personally very troubled” about whether there were issues with his wife receiving a salary from her then-managers and CHC-linked firm Xtron Productions.

Xtron derived the bulk of its operating income from the church but, in his email, Kong wrote that her S$500,000 annual salary — S$16,000 a month for her singing and S$16,000 for each live concert — was paid “totally from non-CHC sources”.

He asked Mr Foong Daw Ching and Mr Joseph Toh of Baker Tilly if this constituted a “related party transaction”.

“If there is simply no way out of this related party dilemma, Sun and I are even willing to resign from the management board of CHC, if that would help diffuse the semblance of any conflict of interest on her part,” wrote Kong, who is on trial with five other church leaders for criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts.

Mr Foong, who was on the stand for the fifth day, came under fire from defence lawyers yesterday. Asked by Kong’s lawyer, Mr Edwin Tong, about this email, he said he could not recall what he did in reaction.

Questions on two subsequent documents sent to him by Tan Ye Peng and Serina Wee Gek Yin — who are among the accused — seeking his advice on the Xtron bonds the church bought also drew a blank.

It prompted Mr Tong to accuse him of giving untruthful testimony to distance himself from advice he had given to several of the accused, while Tan’s lawyer, Mr N Sreenivasan, said he gave “vague, imprecise” answers.

Since he was a Christian elder and an experienced auditor with long ties with CHC, was Tan not entitled to act on his advice in good faith, Mr Sreenivasan asked.

But Mr Foong insisted that he could only advise them based on the information they provided and that they knew it was ad hoc advice.

He said he did not probe for more information in order to not encroach into audit areas and cited an instance where he forwarded an email he received to the audit partners in charge of the church’s accounts. The accused are “intelligent people” with a team behind them, he added.

The court also heard that several staff members of Baker Tilly — including Mr Foong, Managing Partner Sim Guan Seng, Ms Foong Ai Fang and Ms Tiang Yii — conducted a post-mortem after probes on CHC began.

Asked if any blame was attributed to him, Mr Foong said he did not remember this to be the case and questioned if Mr Sreenivasan was trying to “insinuate anything”.

The lawyer replied that he was not.

His cross-examination continues today.

Source: By Neo Chai Chin, Today Online, Kong Hee offered to step down from church board in 2006 email, http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/kong-hee-offered-step-down-church-board-2006-email?singlepage=true, Published 18 September, 4:02 AM. (Accessed 15/01/2014.)

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Kong To Herz: “Plan As If ‘The Sky Is The Limit’ And Then Work Out How We Are Going To Get The Funds”

29 Sunday Sep 2013

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TodayOnline reports,

Chew the ‘key person’ behind financing for Crossover Project

SINGAPORE — Taking the stand for the eighth and final day yesterday, prosecution witness and City Harvest Church supporter Wahju Hanafi singled out former church leader Chew Eng Han as the “key person” involved in the financing of the Crossover Project to develop singer Ho Yeow Sun’s career.

Wrapping up his re-examination of Mr Hanafi, Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Kiat Pheng took the Indonesian businessman through the list of the five church leaders — Kong Hee, Tan Ye Peng, Serina Wee Gek Yin, John Lam Leng Hung and Sharon Tan Shao Yuen — who, together with Chew, are accused of making allegedly sham bond investments and misappropriating S$24 million from the church’s building fund for Ms Ho’s career. 

Earlier during the re-examination, he had tried to show church co-founder Kong’s involvement in the financing of the project by pointing to an email from Kong to American music producer Justin Herz in February 2005.

DPP Tan had also pointed out that, in the email, Kong had instructed Mr Herz to “plan as if ‘the sky is the limit’ and then work out how we are going to get the funds” — although Kong’s lawyer had a day earlier sought to show that Kong had given careful thought to the budget for Ms Ho’s career.

Mr Hanafi denied the five church leaders’ involvement in the financing of the Crossover Project, but identified Chew, who was formerly the church’s investment manager, as “the key person” involved. Chew left the church suddenly in June, citing “issues of spiritual and moral significance”.

DPP Tan also questioned Mr Hanafi on apparent discrepancies in his testimony. For instance, while Mr Hanafi had said in the examination-in-chief that he was not involved in the decision-making of Xtron Productions — which managed Ms Ho’s career — between January 2007 and August 2008, he told the court yesterday that “I didn’t say I was not involved in the decision-making”. Mr Hanafi was Xtron Director from June 2003 to July 2008, when the company provided management services to Ms Ho.

Asked to clarify this, Mr Hanafi said: “I can’t remember this that I have mentioned that I was not completely on decision-making.” Pressed by the prosecution, he added: “Some of these questions, you know, I might be cornered and then I answered it.”

Also taking the stand yesterday was prosecution witness Foong Daw Ching, an auditor from Baker Tilly, who was asked about his relationship with the six accused. The court heard that Mr Foong has known Kong since around 1993, but hardly meets him outside of church. City Harvest and Xtron are clients of the firm, and Kong’s personal tax is also handled by Baker Tilly. The court had heard in the previous tranche of the trial that the firm’s managing partner Sim Guan Seng had raised concerns about the money that was channelled to Xtron. Amir Hussain

Source: Amir Hussain, Chew the ‘key person’ behind financing for Crossover Project, TodayOnline, http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/chew-key-person-behind-financing-crossover-project, 12/09/2013. (Accessed 27/09/2013.)