Tag Archives: Pastor Tan Ye Peng

Judge not lest Hee be judged…

08 Thursday May 2014

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations

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It’s ironic that CHC will not see what Judge See saw in his assessment of the case.

City Harvest leaders have a case to answer: judge

The six accused persons in the City Harvest funds misappropriation trial are willing to take the stand to testify in their defence when it resumes in July after the judge ruled there was a case they needed to respond to.

In his decision, Judicial Commissioner See Kee Oon, who is presiding over the case, said on Monday that the prosecution has provided sufficient evidence for the charges faced by founder Kong Hee, pastor Tan Ye Peng, John Lam, accountants Serina Wee and Sharon Tan, as well as former church leader Chew Eng Han.

The charges include criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts, among others centering around the alleged misuse of some $24 million of City Harvest Church (CHC) building funds to further Kong’s wife Ho Yeow Sun’s singing career, as well as the alleged use of $26.6 million to conceal the first amount.

Noting that the evidence presented is more documentary than it is oral — in the form of numerous emails — Judicial Commissioner See said it was sufficient, in his assessment, to support the contention that CHC’s money was misappropriated.

“There is evidence that the relevant accused persons all intended that loss should be caused to CHC,” he said, referring to the removal of money from the church’s building fund and transferring it to Xtron Productions, the entertainment firm backing Ho’s career. “Moreover, from the evidence, it would appear that the accused persons knew that they were not legally entitled to do so.”

The judge also said that the evidence produced in court thus far “demonstrates that the accused persons withheld some important information from the auditors”, as well as from executive members of CHC.

Also, because there is evidence that the accused knew that the building fund could be used for specific purposes only, Judicial Commissioner See said it can reasonably be inferred that they were dishonest, because they knew they were not legally allowed to use the money the way the did.

He also said that in his view, evidence has been produced to show that the accounts relating to the monies in question were falsely declared. Further, he said the evidence shows that they “had intended all along that money would be ’round-tripped’ from and back to CHC, but nonetheless kept the true nature of these transactions from the auditors and CHC’s executive members”.

Lawyers for all six on Monday expressed their clients’ willingness to take the stand to give evidence when the trial starts again on 14 July. They declined further comment when approached by reporters outside court.

Source: By Jeanette Tan, City Harvest leaders have a case to answer: judge, Yahoo Newsroom, https://sg.news.yahoo.com/city-harvest-leaders-have-a-case-to-answer–judge-090820373.html, 05/05/2014. (Accessed 09/05/2014.)

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CHC Cries ‘Defamation’

27 Wednesday Jun 2012

Posted by in C3 & Pringles Associations

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The Online Citizen reports:

TOC Breaking: City Harvest Executive Member alleges COC Defamation

Published by The Online Citizen on June 27, 2012

TOC understands that this letter has been sent by Christopher Pang, an Executive Member of City Harvest Church, to the Ministry of Community Youth and Sports (MCYS), copied to members of the media.

Dear Mr Chan Chun Sing,
I read with disappointment the defamatory article posted in MCYS’ Press Room entitled “Inquiry found misconduct and mismanagement in the City Harvest Church”.
I am an Executive Member of City Harvest Church, and yes, five people from my church were taken in yesterday, 26 June 2012, for investigation and it was announced they would be charged. Among them are the senior pastor of my church Pastor Kong Hee, and our deputy senior pastor, Pastor Tan Ye Peng.
The “report” that the Commissioner of Charities put up is offensive in the following ways:
  1. The five individuals had not been yet charged on 26 June 2012. But the report was already posted online, and circulated to the public. Does the Commissioner of Charities feel that it is the judge of these five individuals, and not our judiciary? By posting this report, it is already declaring these five individuals “guilty” of wrongdoing even before the Singapore legal system has begun speaking to these five individuals. Frankly, this is defamatory, and necessitates an apology from the CoC.
  1. There are some points in the report that make accusations that are not supported by evidence. For example,
a)      Section B point 5: “donations and tithes to the Charity were transferred to a private fund known as the Multi-Purpose Account.” This is a fabrication. The MPA was purely a private fund and the donors knew they were contributing to the Crossover Project and to supporting Pastor Kong and Sun. In fact the MPA was set up by donors who specifically wanted to contribute to the Crossover Project as we the members of the Church support this as part of our missions work. Monies from CHC’s accounts were not transferred, as accused by CoC, to this MPA. It was a private fund. Definition of “private”: “Belonging to or for the use of one particular person or group of people only.” So, there was no need for the members outside this group to know about the MPA.
b)      In paragraph 2 of the press statement, the CoC insinuates that $23M was used to finance Ho Yeow Sun’s secular music career and gives the impression that money was depleted from the Building Fund. It fails to mention that the audited accounts show that these funds were actually used to purchase bonds with an interest yield of 7% and were duly redeemed with interest upon their expiry date one and a half years’ ago. So no monies have actually been lost to our Church’s Building Fund, in fact the 7% yield of these matured bonds have made this a much better investment than putting the money into fixed deposits with pathetic interest rates.
3.   Inflammatory and emotive language is used throughout this report, to the effect of inciting indignation in the reader. Examples:
                        a. Section B, Point 4: “the Charity’s funds were used to finance the Project under the guise of donations to its affiliated church”.
                        b. Section B, Point 5: “There was even an attempt to conceal the existence of this Account”
While I understand the need to CoC to conduct an inquiry into this matter, I strongly disagree with this report being posted online and re-posted on sites like ST.com when the five have not even been formally charged in court! I take offence at the—frankly amateur—way it has been written and the incendiary language it uses.
I have been a member of City Harvest Church for 18 years. Our pastors have always been open and honest with us, while trying to accomplish the vision God has given our church in the best way they know how. Whilst they may not be perfect, integrity has always been their hallmark.
In Point 6 of the report, the CoC says it may take action against these individuals “in order to protect the charitable property of the Charity.” We the members of the Church have given voluntarily to the Church and the Crossover Project, monies have never been solicited from the public. We are a society and do not owe members of the public any account of our how our funds are used, yet we post our audited accounts online on our website for transparency and accountability.
I can assure you the “charitable property” that I have donated to the Charity does not need protecting by CoC. Pastor Kong Hee, Pastor Tan Ye Peng, Chew Eng Han, John Lam and Sharon Tan have my—and I am sure my fellow churchmates’—trust and support. We know them, trust their integrity and we have seen the fruit of their labour. Nothing that they do is for personal gain, glory or self-furtherance. I am therefore not supportive of the CoC’s suspension of the 8 persons from their offices.
I write to respectfully ask that the CoC apologises to City Harvest Church and its members for this inexcusable report and its poor timing.
Yours truly,
Christopher Pang

From: TOC Breaking: City Harvest Executive Member alleges COC Defamation, The Online Citizen, http://theonlinecitizen.com/2012/06/toc-breaking-city-harvest-executive-member-alleges-coc-defamation/, Published on 27/06/2012. (Accessed 28/06/2012.)

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