In this article, we have CHC Confessors writing about what they’ve seen and learnt of their experience with Kong Hee, Sun Ho and the City Harvest Church scandal. In our first CHC Cofessors article, it is exposed that “$1,000,000 was distributed to Sun’s “Singaporean supporting crew” in USA as “hardship allowance”.” A CHC Confessor states in our second article, 

“I was there in USA with her for some months. I saw the kind of extravagance and lifestyle that would put the prodigal son to shame. By saying this, I’m sure PK and Sun can guess my identity but it doesn’t matter now. If you are going to keep buying into his lies and the false promise of a Suntec “Home”, you are going to be very disappointed. And poorer too. Just use a simple litmus test – did this whole saga bring praise to Jesus… or shame?”

The reason why we are publishing these comments from CHC Confessions on C3 Church Watch is because these articles are very informative.

First CHC Confessor writes,

Kong Hee, Tan Ye Peng, and John Lam – Let’s look at how amateurish, audacious, opportunistic and crafty they are through the sagas of Galaxy Capital loan and Glory Capital loan.

I will not go into the details of the plundering of the $138,000,000 (approximate) Arise and Build Funds that led to the need to borrow $50,000,000 Galaxy Capital loan to purchase the additional 19.2% stake in Suntec in August 2012.

A brief background:

In March 2010, City Harvest Church announced a $310,000,000 “deal” to be a co-owner of Suntec Convention Center and to use part of the space (around 44%) for its religious services on weekends for 10 years.

City Harvest Church officials were tight-lipped on the details of the “deal”, citing a Non-Disclosure-Agreement (NDA) with the vendor, an Indonesian consortium who had just bought 80% of the Suntec Convention Center from ARA Asset Management, owner of the Suntec REIT.

Why is the deal shrouded in secrecy?

Unknown to the congregation, the “deal” only involved the purchase of a mere 20% stake of Suntec Convention Center for $43,800,000, valuing the property at $219,000,000.

The balance $266,200,000, which is more than the entire value of Suntec Convention Center, was for:

a) A 4 + 6 years deal to rent 44% of the space, of which the rental cost is around $15,000,000 each year.
(The projected return from the 20% stake was around $2,000,000+, giving a yield of 4+% each year.)

b) A hefty shifting budget.
During the first year in Suntec Convention Center, the shifting cost was around $15,000,000, cleverly broken into four parts to make it less conspicuous.

c) A one-off Audio-Visual equipment cost that was reported to be around $13,000,000.

d) A $5,500,000 rental deposit, minor renovations, and services for Audio Visual Installation.

At that time, the Arise and Build Fund had raised around $100,000,000 (approximate) but it was so depleted that a bridging loan (paying 9% interest rate) was even needed to pay for part of the $43,8000,000 purchase.

In August 2011, the Indonesian consortium decided to cash out with a hefty Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 64.8% or Equity Multiple of 2.2 times. To the Indonesian consortium, City Harvest Church was a Santa Claus as City Harvest Church is paying top dollars for rental and keeping the facilities 98% leased.

Suntec REIT, who already owns a 20% stake, was given the First Right of Refusal for the 60% stake put up for sale by the Indonesian consortium.

Suntec REIT shrewdly offered 19.2% of the stake to City Harvest Church at $54,000,000, just to give City Harvest Church a 49% minority stake in the vehicle that owned 80% of Suntec Convention Centre.

The Arise and Build Fund had raised around $123,000,000 (approximate) by 2011. But it was so depleted that City Harvest Church needed to borrow $50,000,000 to pay for the additional 19.2% stake at $54,000,000.

Why buy an additional 19.2% when there is no more fund while tithes and offerings were falling?

After the CAD’s raid in May 2010, Kong Hee and gang knew that they could not hide behind the NDA anymore.

There would be an uproar if the congregation knew that the “deal” dubbed “Our Promised Land” had only a 20% ownership costing only $43,800,000.

City Harvest Church is willing to pay $310,000,000 just to own a 20% stake in Suntec Convetion Center, and use 44% of the space for weekends only for10 years. The valuation of the property at the purchase price was only $219,000,000!

To make this deal that made no financial sense more palatable to the congregation, Kong Hee and gang gladly committed to buy the additional 19.2% stake at $54,000,000 when there was no fund left in the Arise and Build Fund.

Galaxy Capital Loan:

To raise the fund, Tan Ye Peng and John Lam went around to borrow from the banks but were unsuccessful.

It was not just the ongoing investigations that turned the bank off.

There were four tranches of outstanding “super-low-interest unsecured loans” given to AMAC Capital in the form of Special Opportunity Funds, amounting to $17,935,000, that spooked the banks.

These four tranches (Tranche 13, 14, 16, and 18) of unsecured “loans” were lent to AMAC Capital from November 2009 to May 2010, just prior to the CAD’s raid on 30 May 2010. These unsecured “loans” had been rolled over since August 2011.

In other words, these loans were already in default.
However, during the rounds with the banks, Tan Ye Peng and John Lam learnt something.

1) Front-end fee. This is a one-off and negotiable fee usually used by the banks to charge an additional 0.5-1.0% fee just to improve the margin.

2) Private Equity Fund will lend to a high-risk client like City Harvest Church for a hefty interest rate of 15% per annum, if the loan is fully secured by collateral.

When Tan Ye Peng managed to convince an ultra-high net worth church member, who is related to the Indonesian consortium, to help set up and arrange for Galaxy Capital to lend $50,000,000 to City Harvest Church at 10% per annum over three years, Kong Hee and gang saw an opportunity.

Knowing that the market rate is 15% as City Harvest Church was having such a bad publicity, Kong Hee and gang did the following:

1) Incorporate 3%, 4%, and 5% front-end fees for the amount of outstanding loan in the beginning of year 1, 2, and 3 of the Galaxy Loan. That is $1,500,000, $1,600,000, and $1,500,000 respectively. A total of $4,600,000 to be paid as front-end fees to an unknown party.

2) They told this ultra-high net worth member that the mark-up was needed to help pay for the $20,000,000 + “loans” secretly borrowed from other churches and individuals to redeem the Xtron and FIRNA bonds after the CAD raid in May 2010.

The continuous plundering weighed on the finances of City Harvest Church. It was so bad that the progress payment for Galaxy Loan could not be repaid in Year 2.

John Lam, despite his suspension by COC, worked on and put up a refinancing proposal.

The new Investment Committee recommended against the refinancing proposal as hefty multi-year front-end fees were again incorporated for the 5-year deal.

In the financial markets, a 3-5% and multi-year front-end fee is highly suspicious and inappropriate, especially when it is not clear on who is actually receiving the fees.

Glory Capital Loan:

After the failed attempt at refinancing, Kong Hee and gang then bypassed the new Investment Committee and put Bobby Chaw as the front person to do the Glory Capital Loan.

Kong Hee and gang craftily structured the Glory Capital Loan to achieve the following:

1) “Legitimize” the questionable multi-year front-end fee as if it is a normal practice in the financial industry.

2a) Artificially boosted the value of Suntec Convention Center to $500,000,000 by giving it a conversion price of $46,000,000 for the 9.2% stake to be forfeited by Glory Capital; should City Harvest Church default on the loan.

2b) The actual conversion price is only $33,000,000 as there is an irrevocable front-end fee of $13,000,000 to be paid to Glory Capital even if the forfeiture takes place. This will give Suntec Convention Centre a valuation of $358,700,000.

2c) City Harvest Church acquired the 39.2% stake at $97,8000,000, valuing Suntec Convention Centre at $249,500,000.

However, Suntec REIT carried out a $180,000,000 Asset Enhancement Initiative to give Suntec Convention Center a facelift, the liability of City Harvest Church’s 39.2% stake in Suntec Convention Center is $70,560,000.

3) In essence, City Harvest Church will most likely retire the outstanding $42,000,000 of the non-performing $50,000,000 Galaxy Loan by forgoing a 9.2% stake in Suntec Convention Center.

This is after paying at least $30,000,000+ in fees and interest to both Galaxy Capital and Glory Capital.

4) Eventually, City Harvest Church will retain a 30% stake in Suntec Convention Centre, projected to yield a dividend income of $3,000,000 – $5,000,000 a year.

City Harvest Church also assumed a liability of $54,000,000 for the $180,000,000 renovation loan taken up by Suntec REIT.

In summary:

1) It is unlikely that the initial NDA in 2010 was the initiative of the vendor (Indonesian consortium) as the cost of shifting, equipment, and minor renovation did not concern the vendor at all.

Motive:
Kong Hee and gang used the NDA to “mask” the true composition of the $310,000,000 “deal”.

It is absurb that City Harvest Church asked the congregation to progressively pay up $310,000,000 just to own a 20% stake in Suntec Convention Center and rent 44% of the space on weekends only for 10 years; when the property was valued at only $219,000,000 at the time of purchase!

2) The Arise and Build Fund was cleverly mandated to pay for the rental of premises also. This is a financially imprudent practice of matching a recurring long-term rental expense with an extraordinary ad-hoc income of Arise of Build Campaigns.

It is clear that the stated goal for the investment in Suntec Convention Center to self-sustain cannot be achieved. ($3,000,000 to $5,000,000 dividend income versus $15,000,000 – $30,000,000 in rental/shifting/service fees)

Motive:
This frees up more than $10,000,000 from the general operating budget of City Harvest Church. Kong Hee and gang can then freely allocate these funds in the general operating budget to “Mission Donations” with little transparency and accountability.

A case in point, City Harvest Church donated $3,000,000 to City Harvest Church KL.

We understand that the City Harvest Church KL only got to keep $300,000. The balance $2,700,000 was promptly distributed as follows:

a) $1,700,000 was distributed to Mark Kwan and Henry Chee.
b) $1,000,000 was distributed to Sun’s “Singaporean supporting crew” in USA as “hardship allowance”.

3) The non-permanent nature of the premises at Expo Changi and Suntec Convention Center entailed constant shifting each year.

Motive:
Hefty mark-up in shifting costs when hundreds of volunteers helped out with the moves. Some people are getting very rich. Just ask Henry Chee.

4) There is so much “fat” built into the $310,000,000 “deal”. After the acquisition of an additional 19.2% stake at $54,000,000, the “deal” still stands at $310,000,000.

Aries shamelessly thanked that people who are doing the shifting for their hard work to make the “savings” possible.

Motives:
This will give Kong Hee and gang the means to fleece the church while making the yearly Arise and Build Campaign a necessity for a long time to come.

To my dear brothers and sisters in City Harvest Church:

You might have been told that the leadership had “Right Motives, Wrong Methods.”
You might have been told that God had given Kong Hee a vision to reach out to the lost souls through cultural mandate.
You might have been told all the siphoning and unlawful acts are to fulfill God’s vision given to a man of God.
I will leave it to you to decide what you want to do.

The funds that are being round-tripped and debated in Singapore court recently; at least now we know where these monies ended up – funding the lavish lifestyle and personal ambitions of Kong Hee and Sun.

But there is at least another $10,000,000 to $20,000,000 of God’s money that was/is being siphoned off each year through mark-up in procurements and services provided to City Harvest Church, and dubious “Mission Donations” with little transparency and accountability.

Whose pockets did these monies end up in?

What is Kong Hee’s net worth?
No one really knows but some in the know guess it is in the region of $40,000,000 to 70,000,000.

Recently, many OMs and MMs watched Reverend Bobby Chaw on stage trying in vain to convince them that the borrowing of $50,000,000 (12.5-15% interest rate + a total of $17,600,000 in irrevocable front-end fees) to buy an additional 19.2% stake of Suntec Convention Center was such a shrewd investment (3-4 +% dividend yield).

Reverend Bobby did not even bother to explain why the Arise and Build Funds were so depleted in the first place.

Many of these members must be thinking:
Is this the guy that I want to lead myself and my family in our spiritual walk?

Kong Hee and gang are going to kick start another round of Arise and Build in October 2013, with 6, 7, or 8 more to come.

If you think Kong Hee and gang should be exposed, please forward this article to any member of City Harvest Church that you know, or anyone you think that may know a member of City Harvest Church.

God bless.

From: CHC Confessions, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/CHCConfessions/posts/676453235707390, 30/09/2013. (Accessed 16/11/2013.)

CHC Confessions also had another fascinating post. If you would like to know more about where Kong Hee got the false “Seven Pillars of the Cultural Mandate” teaching, tune into this episode of Fighting for the Faith. Listen to the second hour where Chris Rosebrough reviews C. Peter Wagner, (who is the founder of the ‘New Apostolic Reformation’).

NOVEMBER 02, 2010

It’s worth noting that Phil Pringle is influenced by the teachings of Peter Wagner. There is no way that Kong Hee was suddenly ordained by God to fulfill a “Cultural Mandate”. It is more likely he was influenced by men like Pringle or Wagner and decided to call it something else to stand out in the community of Asian churches.

The confessor writes,

In principle, you can’t fault PK’s sermon last weekend. He spoke about the seven pillars of the Cultural Mandate: Religion, Family, Business, Education, Government, Arts & Entertainment and Media

What he said in his 70-minute long sermon, I can summarise in one minute – Be the salt and light wherever God has planted you, You can be a Daniel and a Joseph if you rise to the top of your profession where you can be in a position of influence whether for society, your company, your nation and ultimately to propagate the gospel. Nothing wrong with this.

The problem is that PK was using this sermon to justify Sun’s crossover into the pillar of Arts & Entertainment. Why is it a problem? Because in the first place, Sun is not a pop star and never will be. And after getting caught with his hands in a cookie jar he is now using the Cultural Mandate as an excuse. After years of denying any use of CHC funds for Sun’s career, suddenly it’s now – yes we did use millions of (the-sky-is-the-limit) dollars belonging to the church to TRY to make her a pop star but it was all part of the Cultural Mandate.

Daniel and Joseph did not have to “pretend” to be somebody they were not. They didn’t have to compromise or manipulate to get into their position of influence. The got there through simple obedience to God and non-compromise to the world. What Sun did in Hollywood was a TOTAL opposite from these men of God. Before she even got near to any genuine position of fame, success and influence, she was already compromising big time. I don’t have to remind anyone of China Wine, Mr Bill, photos with porn stars, tongue hanging out and fingers in a vulgar sign. Boobs half hanging out in tasteless photos. Was all that suppose to win people to Christ?

If this Sun Ho/Crossover/Cultural Mandate excuse holds water, does that mean it’s alright for PK to use the building fund to enter into politics to assimilate himself into the pillar of Government?

Members of CHC, I was there in USA with her for some months. I saw the kind of extravagance and lifestyle that would put the prodigal son to shame. By saying this, I’m sure PK and Sun can guess my identity but it doesn’t matter now. If you are going to keep buying into his lies and the false promise of a Suntec “Home”, you are going to be very disappointed. And poorer too. Just use a simple litmus test – did this whole saga bring praise to Jesus… or shame?

When this whole thing started with COC, PK said there will be no problem. When CAD arrested them, he said there will be no charges. Now after two tranches of court trials, he tells you this whole episode will end in 2014 and then God will bring about a revival because of his sacrifice in going through this difficult time. He may finally be right after all cos there is definitely a good chance of a real revival after he goes to jail.

Source: CHC Confessions, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/CHCConfessions/posts/680871881932192, 9/10/2013, Accessed 12/10/2013.

NOTE: ALL SCREEN GRABS WERE TAKEN ON OR BEFORE 15/11/2013.