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ThefinalthreedefendantsintheCityHarvesttrialshowedthesameframeofmindandmaintainedthesamestandastheirco-accused.ByTHE CITY NEWS TEAM

CN FILE PHOTO

Co-defendants Tan Ye Peng (left) with John Lam.

Ittook138daysincourttoheartheevi-dence of the six defendants in the trialinvolving City Harvest's leaders: seniorpastor Kong Hee, former treasurer andsecretaryofthechurchboardJohnLam,financemanagerSharonTan,formerfundmanager Chew Eng Han, deputy seniorpastor Tan Ye Peng and accountant Se-rina Wee. The court has also heard the

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evidenceof14prosecutionwitnesses,andthreedefensewitnesses. The different defendants are accusedof conspiring to commit criminalbreachoftrustbychannelingthechurch’sfundsto pay for the Crossover Project throughshambonds,andoffalsifyingaccounts. Key points raised by Chew, Tan YePengandWeebetweenJanuaryandMay

this year were familiar ground for thosefollowing the case since hearings beganon May 15, 2013: the bonds were genu-ineinvestments;theauditorsandlawyershadbeenfurnishedwiththepurposeandpertinent facts regarding the bonds; theaccusedfullyexpectedthebondstobere-deemedbasedonsalesprojectionsofthe

THEWORDOFTHEIRTESTIMONY

JUN 6-7, 2015

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ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents

JUN 6-7, 2015www.citynews.sg2

S P E C I A L E D I T I O N

TheWordOfTheirTestimony(cont’d from Page 1).

US album; and the Advance Rental Li-censeAgreementandtheSpecialOppor-tunities Fund were genuine investmentswithrealobligationstiedtothemandnotacaseofthechurchusingitsownmoneytorecoupitsinvestments. City News Weekly reviews the de-fense'smainarguments.

BONDS WERE NOT “SHAM"TheCrossoverProjecthaditsinceptioninAsia,namelyTaiwan,HongKong,Malay-siaandIndonesia.Itwaswhenanoppor-tunitytoexpandtotheUScameknockingend-2006,thatmoremoneywasneededtofinanceHo’sdebutEnglishalbum. The court heard that after an at-tempttosecurefundingfromabankfellthrough,TanYePengproposedaloantoXtronfromCHC’sbuildingfund. Chew,whofoundedCHC’sinvestmentmanager,AMACCapitalPartnersarrivedat the idea of the church buying bondsfromXtron.Itwasthenhisresponsibilityto structure the terms of the first Xtronbond (and the subsequent AmendedBond Subscription Agreement) and theFirnabond. The prosecution argued that thesebondswereshamtransactions;theyhaveattempted to show that the terms wereunilaterallydecidedby theaccused, thatKongandTan"controlled"Xtron(usingitasa"conduit"tochannelchurchfundsout),andthattheaccusedpersons"knew"thebondswouldnotberecoverableuponmaturity.Inaddition,thebondswereal-leged to be an unauthorized use of thebuildingfund. The defendants' continually main-tainedtheirpositionthatthebondsweregenuine investments, given that thechurchreceivedbetweenfour-and-a-halfand seven percent returns on the fundsinvested.Thechurchwasalsoentitledtoinvestsurplusfundsinthebuildingfundunderitsconstitution.Inaddition,allfi-nancial transactions had been approvedbytheboard,aswellastheXtrondirec-tors. AswithKong’stestimony,theplantoinvestthebuildingfundsintoXtronhadbeenmadeknowntothethen-managingpartner of audit firm Baker Tilly FoongDawChing,andthebondagreementsub-sequently drafted by CHC’s lawyers. Atnopointdidtheseprofessionalssaythatanyofthetransactionswereillegalorim-proper,thedefendantspointedout. Chew,whostructuredthebonds,de-fended their legality. In challenging theprosecution’s case that the Xtron andFirna bond investments were an un-authorized use of the church’s buildingfund,Chewreasonedthatthepartywhohad the right to determine if any usagewas authorized was the church board.Since2002,theboardhadgivenapprovalfor transactions needed to enable theCrossoverProjectand,later,thebuildingsearch,thecourtheard.

OBLIGATIONS TO REPAY BONDS WERE REALAnotherpointtheprosecutiontriedtoes-tablishwasthattherewasnorealobliga-tiononthepartofXtrontorepayCHC,hence thebondswere sham. Thedefen-dants were the ones discussing how toprovideXtronwith funds toredeemthebonds,theprosecutionsaid. Their defense was that they were, asachurchfamily,helpingIndonesianbusi-nessmanWahjuHanafi,theunderwriterofthewholeCrossoverProject,toshoul-der the burden of coming up with sucha large outlay of cash within a relativelyshortperiod.Throughoutthehearing,thecourtheardfrommultipleparties,includ-ingHanafihimself,thathehadexpressedhisdesiretofinancetheCrossoverProjectsince2002. In her defense, Wee maintained thatthe obligation under the Xtron bondswasrealandtheXtrondirectors,includ-ing Hanafi, were the ones bearing thatresponsibility. She explained that herco-defendantswereinvolvedinplanningways to repay the bonds because theywere involved in the Crossover Project.She added that the intention was to re-paythebondswithalbumsalesproceeds,whichunfortunatelydidnothappenduetounexpecteddelayswiththealbumpro-duction. All six accused persons testified thatthepromisetounderwritetheCrossoverProject was made good, and the churchultimatelyreceivedall itsprincipalsumsinvestedwithinterest. Thedefendantsalsotestifiedthattheydidnotbelievethatthefinancialtransac-tionsthechurchenteredintowereshamorillegal.Emailevidenceshowedtheac-cused,namelyWee,askingauditorFoongDaw Ching if there was any breach in

governance and if the bonds were legal.Foong’s reply was that everything thechurchleadershipdidhadtobenefitthechurch and its members. Wee explainedthatFoongwasaveryseniorauditorwhospecialized in auditing churches andcharity organizations and therefore thesixtrustedandreliedonhisadvice.

THE ISSUE OF "CONTROL"The prosecution tried to show that thedefendantsgavetheauditorsthefalseim-pressionthatCHCdidnotcontrolXtron.The prosecution’s theory was that Weeobtained the signaturesof theXtrondi-rectors on the company’sboard meetingminutestoshowtheauditorsthatthedi-rectors themselveswere in control of allfinancial transactions. The prosecutionsuggested it was actually Kong and TanYe Peng who controlled and made deci-sionsforXtron. Under cross-examination, Tan ex-plained that when the Xtron directorssigned the first $13m Xtron bond sub-scription agreement, they were agreeingon the amount that could be spent, i.e.thebudgetfortheprojectwouldbe$13m.Beyond that, they left the managing ofthedrawdownscheduletotheCrossoverteamwhowouldmakeoperationaldeci-sions for the project. It was, after all, aCHC mission—it was only apt for KongandTanasthechurch'sleaderstocoordi-nateitsexecution. The prosecutor suggested that Tanand his co-accused were manipulatingthe flow of funds between Xtron andCHCviaretainerfeesandrentalrates,forthe solepurposeof supportingXtronfi-nancially; Xtron was merely a “conduit”toexecutetheirconspiracy. Tan disagreed with this suggestion,pointing out that the church board had

to approve the amounts, and Xtron’sstaff had to agree to the cost of servicesinordertomaintainoperationalsustain-ability.EverydollarpaidtoXtronhadtobejustifiedwithareal,legitimateserviceprovided, he said. The prosecution ac-cusedTanofmerely creating “cover sto-ries”asajustificationtochannelfundstoXtron,ensuringthatithadmoneytopaythebondinterestduetothechurch. Why was it wrong to help safeguardaninvestmentafteronehasmadeit,Tanasked.

WALKING A “GREY AREA” Onekeypieceofevidencethatthepros-ecution has shown numerous times incourtwasanemailwrittenbyWee,whichcontained advice apparently given byFoongthathadbeendeemed“improper”by the auditor himself when he was onthestand. Intheemail,thecourtsawthatFoonghadtoldtheaccusednottominutedowneverything during meetings so as not to“paint the picture” that CHC controlledXtron.Whenhewasonthestandin2013,Foongclaimed thathegavenosuchad-vice;hesaidthathewouldnothavetoldanyone to do any “improper” thing bysuggestingthattheaccusedmisrepresenttherelationshipCHChadwithXtron. Wee,liketheotherdefendants,refut-edFoong’s testimony.She told thecourtthatthethen-managingdirectorofBakerTillyhadinfacttoldtheaccusedtorecordmeetingminutessuchthatthetwoenti-tieswerekeptatarm’slength.Weetesti-fied that she did not feel Foong’s advicehad been improper, and has disagreedwiththeprosecution’sclaimthatthiswasmerely an extrapolation of what Foonghad said, in order to justify the accusedparties’ efforts at maintaining the ap-

CN FILE PHOTO

Tan Ye Peng (left) with his lawyer SC N Sreenivasan.

JUN 6-7, 2015 www.citynews.sg 3

showedthatXtronwouldnotbe able to repay the bondsupon maturity. On the stand,theaccountantexplainedthatthe200,000figurewasacaseofscenarioplanning,andthatit was the church's style toplanforaworstcasescenario. Subsequently, JustinHerz,SunHo’smanagerintheUS,hadgiventhedefendantsa cashflow projection basedon sales of 1.5m units of theCrossover album. With thisfigure,XtronwouldbeabletorepaythebondsowedtoCHC. Chewalsotoldthecourtthathehadfullconfidenceinthe success of the album andtheabilityforXtronand,later,Firnatorepaythebondsusingalbumproceeds.

THE STORY BEHIND THE “ROUND-TRIPPING” OF CHURCH FUNDS Theprosecutionclaimedthatthe entire series of bond re-demption transactions—the

ARLA and SOF—which involved Xtron,Firna, Ultimate Assets, AMAC and thechurch,wasdesignedto“hidethetrailoffunds” and “obscure” the fact that it wasreally the church’s own money that hadbeenusedtorepayitself. In response, the defendants’ positionwas that the church effected an early re-demption of both the Xtron and Firnabonds to address audit issues raised byauditor Sim Guan Seng; the bonds wereunquotedandhadaconvertibilityfeaturewhichledtovaluationissues. Itwasputtothedefendantsthattheywere trying to clear the bonds becausequestions raised by Sim would lead toimpairment issues and further scrutinyoftheXtronbondsbytheauditors.Theprosecutor’s theory is that this scrutinyof the bonds would eventually lead to

S P E C I A L E D I T I O N

pearanceofseparationbetweenCHCandXtron. Chew, who had been present whenFoong allegedly gave the advice, testifiedthat the auditor had “coached” the CHCpartiesontheproperandlegalwaystodothingswhileachievingthechurch’saimofbeingdiscreet. Foongconsideredthe issueofcontrolsubjective and “grey”, and had advisedthem not to go around saying CHC hadfullcontrolofXtron,Chewrecalled,add-ingthatFoongadvisedthemtotrytowalkwithinthegapandnotbreachtherules. While there was always a desire onthepartofthechurchleadershiptokeepthings discreet from the public at large,thedefendantsdidnothideanythingfromtheauditors, thecourtheard.Foongwasthefirstpartytoknowaboutthebondsbe-foretheyweretransacted,saidChew. Likehisco-accused,Tantestifiedthathe never thought the transactions wereinappropriate because Foong, whom herespectedandtrustedasafellowChristianandanelderofanotherchurch,hadbeenconsulted. Additionally, fund managerChew was a financially savvy investmentprofessionalwhohadcheckedalltheirin-vestmentplanswithlawyerChristinaNg.

WERE THE BONDS RECOVER-ABLE? When Chew was on the stand, the pros-ecution reiterated its position that whentheaccusedenteredintotheXtronbondsin 2007, they did not believe that thebonds would be redeemable upon matu-rity in2009.Thiswasan indicationthatthebondswerenotgenuine,saidthepros-ecution. InanemailfromWeetoTanYePeng,Wee said that the cashflow projectionbased on album sales of 200,000 units

thediscoveryof theshamnatureof thebonds.Weedisagreedwiththishypoth-esis,statingthatshedidwhatthechurchboardwantedtoinordertoaddresstheaudit issues. She added that the finan-cial report of the current year alreadyshowed an impairment on the bonds.The auditors knew about this so therewasnoscrutinyofthebondstobecon-

cernedover. WhenSimwasonthestand,hehadtestifiedofhisknowledgethattheARLAwould result in the redemption of theXtronbondsinCHC’sbooks,andhehadno issuewith it.However,hedisagreedwith the defense’s recollection that hehad told CHC finance manager SharonTan that he wanted the bonds off thebooks. Theprosecutioncalledthesetransac-tions sham as well. Tan disagreed withthis,asdidtheotherdefendants,point-ing out that the SOF tranches in ques-tion were principal-guaranteed invest-mentswhichhadbeenreturnedtoCHCinfullwithinterest. Although Xtron had used part oftheARLAtobuyupthebonds,Tanex-plainedthatitwasstillobligatedtopro-vide the corresponding value CHC hadpaid, which in this case was the use ofvenue for a pre-agreed length of time.Xtron,onitspart,wouldservicethisob-ligation with the expected revenue thatwastocomefromtheUSalbumsales.Inessence, AMAC and Xtron were legallybound to compensate CHC for what ithadpaid. Inaddition,theprosecutionchargedthat the retrospective manner in whichthe interest rate of the SOF was setshowed that the SOF investments werenotgenuineinvestmentsandthatthesewerenotcommerciallymotivatedtrans-actions. Chewrespondedthatan investmentis defined by the expected returns andnottheprocessorstructurebywhichitiscarriedout.HealsoaddedthathehadneverclaimedtheSOFinvestmentswerecommerciallymotivated,butweredone

CN FILE PHOTO

Former fund manager Chew Eng Han.

Thedefendants'positionisthatthe

bondsweregenuineinvestments,given

thatthechurchreceivedbetween4½and7percentreturnsonthefundsinvested.Thechurchwasalso

entitledtoinvestsurplusfundsinthebuildingfundunderitsConstitution.In

addition,allfinancialtransactionshad

beenapprovedbytheboard,aswellasthe

Xtrondirectors.

CN FILE PHOTO

Former Xtron accountant Serina Wee (right).

becauseheunderstoodSimhadwantedthebondsoffthebooks.

NO FALSIFICATION OF ACCOUNTS; TRANSACTIONS RECORDED AC-CORDING TO TRUE NATUREWeedisagreedwiththeprosecutionthatshe and her co-defendants had falsifiedtheentriesoftheSOFandtheARLAinthe church accounts. She said that theyhadbeenrecordedaccordingtotheirtruenature as investments and rental; theoffsetofXtronbondsusingtheadvancerentalwasonlyonaninterimbasis. The prosecution had produced anemailinwhichWeetoldherstaffthattheamountofadvancerentalwasbasedonan “arbitrary figure”. Earlier, in her evi-dence-in-chief,Weeexplainedthatwhatshehadmeantwasthatthefigurewasanestimateandnotarbitrary,asinrandom. TheprosecutionputtoWeethattheportionoftheARLAusedtosetoffXtronbondswasa shambecause itwasneverintendedforrental.Weedisagreed,stat-ingthatthereweregenuinelegalobliga-tionstiedtotheARLA.Theprosecutionwenton tosay that, inaddition, there-cordingofthosetransactionsasadvancerental was false, done so to defraud theauditors. Wee, along with the other co-accused, testified that the transactionswererecordedaccordingtotheirtruena-tureandthattherewasneveranyinten-tiontodefraudtheauditors.

HAS THE PROSECUTION SUP-PORTED ITS CASE?Before leading his client Tan Ye Pengthroughhisexamination-in-chief,seniorcounselNSreenivasanbroughtthecourtbacktothechargesagainstthesixinanhour-long summation of the case up tothatpoint Hehighlightedseveralpointsagainstthe prosecution’s case, among them,that the prosecution had stated theydid not accept the evidence of some oftheir own witness—therefore they weremaking theircasenotbecauseofbut inspiteoftheirownwitnesses’testimonies.Sreenivasan also noted that the pros-ecution had been adding new slants totheirallegationsasthedefensecasepro-gressed. The senior counsel also pointed outthatCBTisacrimethatinvolveslossofpropertyofavictim,butinthiscase,theCrossover Project was a mission of thechurch, there was no complaint, therewas no victim, and therefore the CBTchargesshouldbedropped. Chew,TanandWeealltoldthecourtthattheyhadactedingoodfaiththrough-out the exercise to fund the Crossoveralbum, believing they were serving apurpose and mission set by God. De-spite their predicament, each expressedsatisfaction at the evangelistic successachievedthroughtheCrossoverProject.

Oral submissions from both prosecution and defense will be heard in September.

JUN 6-7, 2015www.citynews.sg4

S P E C I A L E D I T I O N

ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents

Onethingledtoanother.Twopressingneedsculminatedatthesametime.WetakealookbackathowboththeCrossoverProjectandpropertysearchdovetailed,resultinginafundingcrunch.ByTHE CITY NEWS TEAM

CROSSOVERPROJECT

SEARCH FOR NEW BUILDING

Work on album contain-ing Sun Ho's previous sin-gles plus new songs be-gins with Justin Herz.

Justin Herz decides to rope in Wyclef Jean. Sun tours with Wyclef; gets good reaction. Wyclef de-cides to re-record album; moves launch to 2009.

Sun re-writes and re- records album with new producer Johnny Wright. She needs to undergo two major surgeries for colic adhesion.

Plans to launch album, Causing A Ruckus, be-come concrete. Sum-mer promotional radio and club tour planned for Jun 15. Album launch planned for Aug 17.

Sun is appointed Music Ambassador for Beijing Olympics. Fee negotiations with Wyclef falls through.

Sun’s management trans-fers to Ultimate Assets,

Album expenses begin to in-crease. Other sources of fund-ing sought; bank loan interest too high. AMAC invests into Xtron with CHC funds. First Xtron bonds worth $13m transacted.

US album funded by sponsors of Xtron, Sun's artiste man-agement company.

Advance rental license agree-ment (ARLA) signed between CHC and Xtron, availing $65m to Xtron for rental of Singa-pore Expo for church. Auditor's concern leads to redemption of Xtron & Firna bonds

ARLA is rescinded when CHC successfully buys a stake into Suntec. Xtron returns CHC $40.5m (inclusive of interest) On May 31, CAD commences investigation into CHC.

With album delay, proceeds cannot come back within 2 years for Xtron to repay church. ABSA is drawn up to extend repayment to 10 years. Addi-tional $8.5m from CHC to pay loan for Riverwalk purchase. When Sun changes manage-ment, Firna issues $11m bonds to CHC via AMAC.

City Harvest Church embarks on Arise & Build for a new building in the marketplace.

2005-2006

2007

2009

2010

2008

Xtron is appointed proxy for CHC to bid for commercial property.

Xtron purchases River-walk, rents premises to CHC.

Search for new buildilng for CHC sees consideration of over 30 locations.

Property search nar-rows down to Suntec and Capitol Building.

In January, CHC pur-chases stake in Suntec for over $90m. No longer a need for ARLA.

JUN 6-7, 2015 www.citynews.sg 5

S P E C I A L E D I T I O N

SunCameUpWhenSunHotookthestandlastmonth,hertestimonyservedtoanswerquestionsthathavesurfacedthroughouttheCityHarvesttrial.ByTHE CITY NEWS TEAM

Sun Ho, wife of senior pastor Kong Heeand co-founder of the church has beenatthecenteroftheCityHarvesttrial,butuntilmiddleofMaythisyear,nothinghadbeen heard from her about what reallyhappenedintheUSwhereshespentfiveyearspreparingtheUSCrossoveralbum. Throughout the trial, which beganhearingsonMay15,2013,thecourtheard

repeatedly that Ho was the singer whofrontedtheCrossoverProject,amissionofthechurchthatemployedsecularmusictospread theGospel. Italsoheard fromallsixdefendantsthatfundingwaskeptdis-creettoprotecttheevangelisticmissionoftheCrossoverProject. Littlewonderthatwhenaccusedper-sonChewEngHancalledHotothestandashiswitnessonMay19,2015,themediaandcuriousmembersofthepublicpackedthecourtroom.

HOW THE CROSSOVER BEGANHo told the court how her husband hada burden for the young people in Asia,particularly Taiwan, who preferred pop

culturetochurch.In2002,HoreceivedaprophecythatshewouldhaveopportunitytosingtomillionsandleadthemtoChrist.Followingthesuccessofher"pop"perfor-mance at International Pastors' Schoolthat year, she launched her music careerinTaiwan. The court heard that the CrossoverProjectservedthreepurposes:tousecon-temporarymusictoreachouttoyouthandbringthemtoChrist,toencourageChris-tianartiststosharetheir faithandlastly,toengagecultureandexpandCHC’shu-manitarianefforts. In 2003, American minister RobinHarfouchegaveHo’sMandarinalbumtoproducer Justin Herz, who helped withthe production of one of Ho’s Mandarinalbums. He was, at the same time, look-ingforanAsianartisttobreakintotheUSandwaskeentopromoteHo.WhenHerzropedinproducerPeterRafaelsontowriteanEnglishsongforher,thatmarkedthestartoftheUSCrossover.HoreleasedfiveUS dance singles, three of which toppedtheAmericanBillboardDancecharts. Ho told the court that she had greatfaith in the US album. “I have the faithinGod,becausefirstofall, thisdoor,wedidn'tlookforit.Itwasopenforus…webelievethatit'sadoorthatGodhasopenedfor us,” Ho said. She also said she was“veryimpressedbythecredentialsofJus-tinHerz”,andthatshebelievedinWyclefJean’sabilitytomakethealbumcommer-ciallysuccessfulintheUS,givenhistrackrecordbreakingShakiraintoAmerica. Ho was not alone in her faith; thechurch had prayed for her and commis-sionedherfortheAsianCrossoverin2002and the US Crossover in 2004. “I knowthattheyhavefaithinGodandthismis-sion,”shetoldthecourt.

WHY WAS THE ALBUM DELAYED?Thesixdefendantsareaccusedofchan-nelingchurchfundstopayfortheCross-over Project. In their defense, they ex-plainedtothecourtthatthefundswentintogenuineinvestmentsintoHo’sman-agement companies, and had real legalobligations.TheproceedsofHo’sEnglishalbum were meant to repay the invest-ments as early as 2007, but its launchwasrepeatedlydelayed. Thefirstversionofthealbumhadbeencompleted by 2007, but Herz decided tobringJeanintofine-tuneit.JeanfeaturedHo in his 2007 album Carnival II as aguestartist.HowentontourinAmericaand Europe with Jean and based on thepositivereactiontheyreceived,Jeanpro-

posed rewriting the album, pushing itslaunch to 2009. The court also heardthat from2007 to2008,Howasnamedambassador of music for the 2008 Bei-jingOlympicSongFest, travellingacrossChinatoencourageuniversitystudentstosubmitcompositionsfortheOlympics. In late 2008, Jean’s fee proved to beprohibitive,andtheircollaborationended.Herz then roped in co-producer JohnnyWright to work on the album. In early2009,Hohadtoundergotwomajorsur-geriesforcolicadhesion.Thispushedthedeadlinefurtherback.ByMarch2010,thealbum was nearly complete, Ho told thecourt. She was rehearsing and preparingtogoonpre-launchtourstartingJun15,2010.ThealbumwasslatedtolaunchonAug17,2010. The Commercial Affairs DepartmentlauncheditsinvestigationoftheCityHar-vestleadersonMay31,2010.

WHY DID SHE NOT LAUNCH THE ALBUM?WhenaskedbyChewwhyshedidshenotadhere to his suggestion to return to USfor the album launch, Ho told the courtthat ithad, in fact,beenher intentiontodoso.Thealbumwasready,andsheseri-ously considered returning to the US forthelaunch. “But,yourHonour,I’malsoawife,andmyhusband,he’sbeenallegedofwrong-doing, and my son was having a lot ofemotionalmeltdownsbecauseofinnocentclassmatesaskinghimishisfatherinjailalready,”Hoexplained. “Ijustdon’tknowasawife,asamother,isittherightthingformetoleavemyhus-bandandnotstandbyhimtogothroughthis period of time and also to bring hisson away from him, your Honour? Andif something really happened to Kong,honestly,yourHonour,Idon’tknowcanImanagetotakecareofmysonalonewiththeburdenoftheCrossoverProjectonmyshoulder?Idon’tknowwhethercanIgoonperformingasifnothinghashappened,yourHonour.” Hoalsotoldthecourtthatasco-found-er of City Harvest Church, her concernwasforthechurchandshewantedtobethere to answer members’ questions. Ontopofallthat,Howasonbailatthetime;shewasonlyreleasedfrombailin2013. However,inhermind,launchingtheUSalbumwasneveracloseddeal, saidHo. “If God is willing, it would be myprivilegetocompletetheCrossover,sincewe all—not just me—have put so mucheffortintoit.”

WERE THE MANDARIN ALBUMS A SUCCESS? “Usually the tabulation of the sales would be left to the record company and the managers … But the impression was that the album has sold well. I remember … must be my first or second record–that in Singapore alone, I was given double platinum … it would be at least 30,000 cop-ies in Singapore alone for one album. And I remember sometime during my Gain album when I was under Warner, they have a press conference [and] the GM mentioned that for that album alone, I sold more than 500,000 copies.”

WHY KEEP BOND TRANSACTIONS DISCREET?“… If the church would continue or insist of funding me, then it would have to reveal to the public that the Crossover Project is the mission project of the church … That's why, after Roland Poon, I believe that the church board and the leadership decided that … we will allow Wahju to be the main financier for the project … We don't want the public to perceive me as a gospel singer, because if they perceive me as a gospel singer and that this is a project of the church, then the non-Christians will not be so open to listen to my songs … Then they will not come to the concerts and will not be able to hear the testimony or have a chance to receive Jesus.”

CN FILE PHOTO

Sun Ho took the stand as a defense witness on May 19.

JUN 6-7, 2015www.citynews.sg6

S P E C I A L E D I T I O N

CN FILE PHOTO

One of many prayer meetings held throughout the trial.

IntercessionByTheFaithfulOnesForCityHarvestmembersandfriends,battlesarewononone’sknees.City News Weeklytalkstosomewhointercededinprayerduringthetrial.ByTHE CITY NEWS TEAM

“Prayer kept me connected to the trialthatwasgoingon,andshowedmehowGodwasmovingineverytrancheinourchurch,”saysJosephAng,aCityHarvestChurchpastor.SincecourtproceedingsagainstthesixCHCdefendantsbeganinMay 2013, church members gathered-regularlytostandinthegapandinter-cede. Ang, who led some prayer meet-ings, adds that what stood out for himwas “the last prayer meeting that I ledonMay15,2015,whichhappenedtobethelastonebeforetheopentrialended.WhatIfeltwastheloveandencourage-ment of the members for the churchleadersandthosestandingontrial.” In2015,thechurchwideprayermeet-ingsintensified,especiallyinMayasthedefense case came to a close. Startingwith the first prayer meeting on Aug26,2010,a totalof82prayermeetingswereheldatvariouslocations,including

CHC'sJurongWestchurch,YMCAandNewCharisMission,with300memberspackingthehallatthefinalmeetingonMay 15, 2015. At each prayer meeting,membershadpersonalprayer timebe-fore praying through prayer lists. Thiswas followed by a short time of praiseand worship, and corporate prayer forthetrial,thechurchandtheleaders. Angsaid,“DuringthatMay15prayermeeting, we entered into a strong flowof the presence of God and ministeredto those who felt trapped in particularsituations.Oneofthosememberspres-entsawmethisweekinchurchandtoldmeshehadabreakthroughinthesitu-ation she was praying over. Praise theLord!” Although the churchwide eveningprayer meetings were held after officehours, many devoted their evenings tostanding together in prayer, rushing

down after work or school to be there.School of Theology student VincentLau, 24, echoed the hearts of manywho went. “I want to stand in the gapbecausethechurchismyfamily.Whenyour family is going through difficulttimes, the right thing to do is to headbackhome,bethereandstandtogetherwith your family members. Praying isdoingwhatIcantobetheretosupportmyfamily.” Ong Shuixian, 26, a client servicesmanagerexpressedsimilarsentiments.“Tithing my time in the house of Godisalwaysone thingI feelprivileged todo. People sayit is not easy tocommit so muchtoachurchgoingthrough a trial,but if it's easy,then what's thepointofdoingit?Likewise, if myfamily is goingthrough a toughseason, I wouldgrit my teethand stay togeth-er with them—that's what trulymatters.” She recalledthe sharing byTanYahLan,an-other CHC pas-tor,aboutstayingfaithfulevenwhentheanswerstoone’sprayersaredelayed.“IfeltGodspeaktomeclearlytostaypatientandunwaver-ing.Iremembergoinghomethatnightand excitedly texting my cell groupmembersabouttherevelationthatGodwas looking for sacrificial hearts, andHefoundus—Hefoundthechurch."

“[We]madeade-cisiontojourneythroughthistrial

withthedefendants.Indeed,allthings

areworkingforgoodaswecontinuetopraythroughtill

theveryend!”~JosephAng,CHCpastor

Prayers came not just from believ-ers in the local church. Rev Dr AlbertVJebanayagam,pastorofCanaanFel-lowship International Church in SriLanka and a longtime friend of CHC,said his church had been intercedingsince 2010. “Throughout the past fiveyears since the investigation began,a team of five active prayer warriorsfrom our church have been prayingseveral hours daily, up to eight hourseach day. We constantly touched basewiththelocalprayerwarriorsinCHC.Wealsoformedanetworkwithpastors,members who truly cared and loved

the leaders ofCHC. Becauseof these prayersour church, as awhole,hasdrawnclosertoGod." The motiva-tion behind suchfaithful inter-cession is “ourpersonal love forPastor Kong—our church wasinvolved withhimfromthe in-ception of CHC.[This expresses]our gratitude toCHCforalltheirlove and sup-port,"hesaid. “Asamember

andapastorofCHC,Imadethedeci-sion to journey together through thistrial with the defendants,” said Ang,witharemindertoallwhohavejoinedin the intercessory prayer meetings.“Indeed,allthingsareworkingforgoodaswecontinuetopraythroughtilltheveryend!”

JUN 6-7, 2015 www.citynews.sg 7

S P E C I A L E D I T I O N

HeardInCourtKeyexchangesandstatementsfromcourtproceedingsthisyear.ByTHE CITY NEWS TEAM

Senior Counsel for Tan Ye Peng, N Sreenivasan gave an opening state-ment on Apr 23, summarizing the key defense points.

THE “ODD” PROSECUTION’S CASE “So we now have a very odd situa-tionwheretheprosecutionsaysithasmadeoutitscasenotbecauseoftheevidenceofitswitnessesbutinspiteoftheevidenceofitswitnesses.”

THE DEFENDANTS’ FRAME OF MIND“According to the prosecution, theyare constantly talking about some-thing which was a sham and whichtheyknewtobeasham…Aretheyspending all this time talking aboutsomethingthatdoesn'texist?Iftheyknewitwasasham,there'sverylittletodiscuss.Youdon'tneedtodiscussprojections.Youdon'tneedtodiscussavailabilityoffundstopayback.Youdon'tneedtofirstputatwo-yearre-paymentremitandthenchangeittotenyears.”

THEY SOUGHT ADVICE FROM AUDITORS “Foong Daw Ching being called

turnedouttobeablessing,becauseitshowsusthetruthofthematter.Itshowsusthattheaccusedpersonsweretryingtodotherightthing,tryingtogetapprovalsanddisclosedallinformationthattheythoughtwasrelevantatthematerialtime.”

CRIMINAL BREACH OF TRUST REQUIRES WRONGFUL LOSS OR WRONGFUL GAIN“YourHonour,criminalbreachoftrustisgenerallyacrimewithavictim...Asacrimeagainstproper-ty,itmustbeacrimeagainstthepropertyofsomeone.Itisnotlikevandalism,whichisstateproperty…Wehavenothadanyprosecutionwitnessfromthechurchallegingthatthechurchisavictim.SowehavethisamazingsituationwherewehaveCBT,whichisnotavictimlesscrime,butnovictim… “YourHonour…ifyourecallLes Miserables,whenJeanValjeanwascaughtwiththesilverware,thebishopsays,"Igaveittohim",andnotwithstandingtheviewsofInspectorJavertandthepolice,JeanValjeanwasletoff.IfIdonotsayIsufferedawrongfullossorthatyouhadawrongfulgainatmyexpense,cantherebewrongfulloss? “Theprosecution’scase:thisisnotacaseofwrongfulgain;itisjustacaseofwrongfulloss…Sowenowhaveaveryinterestingquestion:ifmoniesofCHCareusedforCrossover,whichis,bytheprosecution'sadmission,anobjectiveofthechurch,wheredowelandonthequestionofwrongfullossorintenttocausewrongfulloss?Ifwelookattheprosecution'snecessaryunambiguousconcession…thenbasicallyyouaresaying,‘Youhaveusedchurchmoneyforonepurposeforanother’.That'sthehighesttheircasecango.Itcan'tgohigherthanthatanymore. “Butifwecomebacktobasics,thatacriminalbreachoftrustcaseisaboutlossofpropertyfromthevictim…andweleaveallthefancythinkingandallthecomplicatedarguments,thenitisquiteclear:there'snooffenceinthiscase.”

MONEY WENT BACK TO THE CHURCH“Evenbeforetheraid,adecisionhadbeenmadetocanceltheadvancerentalagreementandformon-eytogoback.Thefirst$5millionwentbackbeforetheraid,andthefullamountwithinterestwentbackinOctober2010.Sothefactthattheydidatransaction,theprosecutionwillargue,‘Howareyougoingtopaybackthebondsintwoyears?’Wehaveonesimpleanswer.Whenmyclientandtheotherchurchleadersbelievedthattheycouldgenerateand,ifneedbe,returnthemoney,itwasnotapioushope,becausetheproofofthepuddingisintheeating;theydidit.Theythoughttheycoulddoit,theyknewtheycoulddoit,but,mostimportantly,theydidit.”

THE CROSSOVER AND PROPERTY SEARCH GAVE CHEW A SENSE OF PURPOSEChew Eng Han’s evidence-in-chief on Jan 29:“YourHonour,thisistheCrossoverProject.Despitemycon-dition,IputmyheartandsoulintothelandandtheCrossover,becauseIthoughtthesewerethetwomostimportantthingsforCityHarvestChurch.Iwentontosay:‘Ithelpedgivemea sense of purpose and remind me that God was still usingme.AndthatkeptmegoingforHimandhelpedmyfaithstaystrongdespitetheabsenceofanyvisiblebreakthrough.’ “YourHonour,alltheseyears,2007,2008,2009,IneverthoughtIwasinaconspiracy.IthoughtGodwasusingme.WhenIdidthelandandwhenIdidtheCrossover,itgavemeasenseofpurpose.ItremindedmethatGodwasstillusingmeforhisKingdom.Ineverhadbadintentions,tocauselosstothechurch.”

SOUGHT ADVICE FROM THE LAWYERS AND AUDITORSSerina Wee during examination-in-chief on Apr 28.

"All those years when I was a church staff, and evenafterIstartedAdvante,mycompany,allIwanted

todowas toserveGod…AndI tookmyworkseriously.WhateverIdid,Ididtothebestofmyabilities…Ijustwantedtoplayapart,tohelpmychurch fulfill thecallofGod thathehas

giventothechurch. "Your Honour, I love my churcha lot and I would not do anything illegaltoputmyself,myleadersandmychurchfamilyatrisk.Ifeltassuredthatwhatev-er thatwasdonewasaboveboardandItrusted in Eng Han’s financial expertise.Advicewassoughtfromthelawyers,fromthe auditors at various points. It nevercrossed my mind that whatever that wewere doing could possibly be violatingthe law … Your Honour, I just want tosay, lastly, thatIwillnotbe inthispre-dicament today if not for the vision ofCityHarvestChurch,butwhenIthinkaboutthemanylivesthatweretouchedbecause of City Harvest, because oftheCrossover, I’m just thankful thatIhadaparttoplayinit.”

THE ALBUM WOULD HAVE BROUGHT THE CHURCH INTO GLOBAL MISSIONSTan Ye Peng during examination-in-chief, Mar 25:“Ijustwanttosaythatwhenthechurchhasdoneallthesein-vestments,themonieshaveallcomebackandthemonieshavebeenusedforSuntec.Everysinglecentisaccountedfor,plusinterest.And…IknowthatI’vegonethroughthisfiveyears,it’sverytoughonme,buteverytimeIthinkthatthechurchisnowusingSuntec,enjoyingthepremiseseveryweekend,yourHonour,Ifeelthatthatisthevision,thegoalthatIhavecar-riedforsomanyyears,I’mjustgladthatitcametopass. “Theonlysadthingisthealbumcouldn’tbelaunched,be-causeoftheinvestigation.IfitwaslaunchedinAugust2010,thenthechurchwouldhavegoneintoglobalmissions,whichistheotherobjectivethatwehave,andthatwouldbewhatIhavegivenmylifeduringthattenyearsfor,yourHonour,todotheworkofGod.”

CN FILE PHOTO

Serina Wee said her moti-vation had always been to serve God.

JUN 6-7, 2015www.citynews.sg8

*Accurate as at print. For more information or updates on the events, contact Evelyn Tan at (65) 6737-6266 or visit chc.org.sg.