Closing of CHC case

After more than two-years, the long-running City Harvest trial has finally come to a close. Lawyers on both sides wrapped up their final submissions on Tuesday.

Here's what you need to know about the trial:

The SIX - Kong Hee,  Tan Ye Peng, Serina Wee, John Lam, Chew Eng Han and Sharon Tan.

The SIX are accused of misappropriating $24 million in CHC's building funds through sham bond investments in music production firm Xtron and glass maker Firna. They also allegedly misused a further $26 million to cover up the initial misuse.

The bonds were used to fund a church project called the Crossover.

The SIX face varying counts of criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts. The first offence is punishable with a life sentence, or up to 20 years in prison and a fine. The second carries a maximum of 10 years in jail, a fine or both.

The Crossover project is the secular music career of Kong's wife, pop singer Ho Yeow Sun. CHC said it wanted to use her music to spread the Gospel.

The bonds started as a means for the church to fund the Crossover discreetly. This was a strategy devised by Kong, Chew has told the Court.

This was a response to concerns about the misuse of church funds raised by former churchgoer Roland Poon in 2003. Mr Poon had accused the church of using members' donations to fund Ms Ho's music career. The first bond subscription agreement was signed in 2007.

The trial has stretched over 140 days - since it started in 2013. It is one of the longest criminal cases in history, beaten only by a drug trafficking case in the 1990s that went on for 168 days.

Court hearings are attended mostly by church members, although interest has waned since the trial started. When it first started, church members would queue up before dawn outside the courthouse to get a seat in the courtroom.

Presiding Judge of the State Courts See Kee Oon will deliver his verdict on Oct 21 - following which either side would be able to appeal.

CrossOver Project

The greatest impact resulted from the CrossOver Project is not Jay Chou, but a man named Terry Hung.

http://www.citynews.sg/2012/08/teddy-hung-crossing-from-darkness-into-light/

Teddy Hung: Crossing From Darkness Into Light

Former triad leader of the notorious 14K in Hong Kong, Teddy Hung shares his story of love, chastening and redemption.

His is a story of God’s love and redemption. It tells us that time is never an issue for God when He disciples someone; and it is never too late for anyone to come back to Him.

At the age of 15, Teddy Hung joined a triad. During the 1970s and through the ’80s, he became the most feared triad leader in Hong Kong with businesses that involved drug-dealing, gambling dens and discos. He had four wives and a host of girlfriends, each one a top model or actress in Hong Kong.

As he grew older, he began to see how his gambling dens were causing families to break up and his drug businesses had forced youngsters to start stealing and engaging in other illegal businesses. He started to despise himself and soon slipped into depression. His nights were restless and he started having suicidal thoughts.

“It was very strange that I would have suicidal thoughts because I’ve always hated people who kill themselves. I felt that they were wimps,” said Hung, in one video testimony.

Doctors could not cure his depression or insomnia and he was perpetually in a bad mood. A group of pastors tried to reach out to him but he rejected their invitation outright, declaring that he “hated people who talk about Jesus.” He would curse and swear at others who tried to preach the Gospel to him, boasting that “I am prepared to go to hell.”

Knowing that he would not attend a church service, those same pastors invited him to a Crossover concert by Sun Ho, which was held in Hong Kong in 2002. This was one in a series of concerts throughout Asia by Sun in which she performed pop songs from her hit albums; she would then share her testimony in the middle of the concert, and at the end of the show, her husband, Kong Hee, the senior pastor of City Harvest Church in Singapore, would give an altar call. This simple routine saw tens of thousands receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

At the end of the Hong Kong show, Hung found himself at the front of the stage, saying the sinner’s prayer led by Kong.

That very night, Hung said a prayer to God saying “If You are real, heal me of my insomnia and I’ll believe in You.” That was the first night in many that he had a full night’s sleep. That experience taught him that God was indeed real.

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:17

“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. 4 As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. 5 Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out
the tender plants. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! 9 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” Matthew 13:3-9

Guarding the Brand II

CHC is not about Kong Hee, its about God - a platform for the glory of His Kingdom.

I am in no position to judge nor am I qualified, but the best way for those facing legal judgement is to take a step back. Maybe they should take Sabbathical leave from key position within the CHC management so as to allow the church, function without their involvement till all those allegations are settled.

My Brother, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. James 1:2-3

In the mist of your life-changing trial, remember that God is still at work.

A Statement from Kong Hee dated 9 April 2013

The Commissioner of Charities has just announced that it intends to remove 8 individuals, including myself, from the exercise of their respective offices in CHC.  It has also given a press release on this earlier today.

Here are my thoughts on this matter.

First, I have only just received a 227-page report by the COC containing allegations against all 8 individuals.  This is currently under review by our lawyers.  However, I am confident that there is no basis for the COC’s actions and I will in due course make the appropriate representations to the COC.

Second, I am happy that the COC has decided not to take any action against Sun and has now vindicated her.  Sun and I were always confident that there would have been no basis to take any action against her even though the COC had suspended her earlier.

Third, as regards this present step, I am surprised why the COC has decided to embark on this course of action.  The COC has never explained how CHC’s property is allegedly at risk, such that it was necessary to issue suspension orders in 2012 and removal orders in 2013.  Notwithstanding my views above as to the lack of merits of the suspension and removal order, I had agreed with the COC that it would be expedient and practical for a voluntary suspension to be in place until 6 months after the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.  The issues raised in both proceedings are related, and the AGC is involved in both sets of proceedings.  I would add that, in fact, it was the COC who made the proposal to me to defer until the criminal proceedings are disposed of, on condition that all 9 affected individuals agree.  The COC had also agreed that this would be entirely without admission to liability and without prejudice to my rights.  In February 2013, both Sun and I accepted the COC’s offer.

Subsequently however, the COC informed me that the premise on which I had agreed to the voluntary suspension had changed.  This was apparently because they were not able to get everyone to agree with them.  This is however not something that is within my control.  I also did not see how this would alter the fact that Sun and I had already agreed to the voluntary suspension on their terms, and I informed COC accordingly.  It was after this that the COC has now decided to pursue this course of action.

Clearly, the COC was itself of the view that it would be more expedient for this matter to be dealt with only after the criminal trial was entirely disposed of.  This was clear from their own offer to me, which also provided that the consent would be without admission of liability and also without prejudice to my rights.  Yet, it now imposes a deadline on me to respond to the COC a mere 2 days before the commencement of the criminal trial.  I will therefore seek clarification from the COC on this point.

In the meantime, I understand that the Commissioner of Charities has assured the CHC Board that I will not be prevented from preaching at CHC’s services.  This is only fair as there is no basis for the COC to encroach on the services of the church.  I look forward to being in church to worship God with my friends and family.  I hope that you continue to keep me, my family and the church in your thoughts and prayers.

Kong

City Harvest Scandal: It'll be over by next year, Kong tells churchgoers
By Jermyn Chow & Melody Zaccheus And Lim Yi Han

City Harvest Church founding pastor Kong Hee rallied his congregation during the weekend's church services, telling them that by next year, "everything should be all over".

This was the first time that he had spoken to churchgoers since the Commissioner of Charities (COC) said last Tuesday that it is acting to remove him and seven church leaders from office over multimillion-dollar corruption allegations.

Its bid to oust them is the latest setback that City Harvest - with over 19,800 active followers - has suffered since Kong was among around a dozen of its leaders questioned after complaints about church finances in 2010.

Yesterday, he assured his congregation: "You've been holding on for three years. One more year. One more year and it will be all over."

WHAT KONG SAID

Reassuring his congregation

    "You've been holding on for three years. One more year. One more year and it will be all over."

On his innocence

    "And yes, I do maintain my integrity."

Tempering the church's optimism

    "While I don't know what is going to happen one year from now, I don't know will I still be standing here, but (from) the way you clap, I better be standing here."

Guarding the Brand

What we DO is of a Higher Calling!

Request to delay City Harvest trial denied
Apr 08, 2013

Six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders accused of embezzling more than $50 million from their parish had a request to push back the start of their trial denied on Friday.

The highly anticipated hearing will go ahead as planned on May 15 and be presided over by Senior District Judge See Kee Onn.

At Friday's pre-trial conference, District Judge Victor Yeo turned down the defence lawyers' request, having considered that the prosecution registered a strong objection to another delay.

Both sides declined to comment on why the defence had applied for the postponement.

The start date of the trial was already pushed back at a pre-trial conference last month, when both sides agreed to switch it from May 6 to May 15.

This was because the church's former investment manager Chew Eng Han had only then secured representation by Senior Counsel (SC) Michael Khoo, after his application to engage a Queen's Counsel - an elite British lawyer - was rejected earlier in March, and Mr Khoo has another case to handle in May.

The Straits Times understands the prosecution passed documents to defence lawyers on Dec 15 last year to facilitate preparation of an agreed statement of facts for the trial so it can be focused on the legal dispute.

The five other CHC leaders and co-defendants secured representation by other SCs last year, apart from senior pastor Kong Hee, who engaged MP Edwin Tong.

The six are charged with conspiring to cheat the church by funnelling $24 million into sham investments to further the career of Kong's pop-singer wife. They then allegedly misappropriated another $26.6 million to cover up the misuse of the first sum.

A popular clothing shop requires all their sales staff to wear clothes that is from its shop. This is a way of modeling the product and also a practice of "guarding their brand". The idea behind it is that shoppers will be more likely to purchase clothes because they will want to look like the people they see wearing them.

In a consumer-oriented culture, it is easy to be seduced into thinking that we can "buy" acceptance by wearing the things others wear.

Sometimes we even convince ourselves that we can win followers for God by making ourselves attractive to the World. But the Bible is clear about what is really important to God. Jesus is our "brand", not conform to the World. We attract others to Christ when we put on His attributes, which include tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering and abvove all LOVE.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:26-29.

Instead of polishing and protecting our own image, we need to be guarding and reflecting the image of God, which is made perfect through Christ.

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:12-14