Deputy Public Prosecutor Mavis Chionh for the City Harvest Church corruption trial charged that the founder of City Harvest Church, Kong Hee, and his fellow senior pastor that the men are liars and men without credibility yesterday (Sep 14).
Photo of Kong Hee from charismanews
During the closing submissions in Court, the DPP told the court to reject Kong Hee’s testimony by calling him a “well-practised liar” and having “utter lack of credibility”. Kong Hee claimed that he had been acting on advice of his lawyers and auditors, and distant himself from the sham bonds which were used to fund his wife’s doomed music career.
“Far from being a mere figurehead… (Kong Hee) was a meticulous and details-oriented leader whose express approval was needed before the bonds could go ahead”
The DPP later attacked Kong Hee’s second-in-command senior pastor Tan Ye Peng for being a puppet to Kong Hee. DPP Mavis continued to attack former finance manager Sharon Tan as the accused had deceived auditors by altering board meeting minutes.
“The defence’s claim that this was a mere failure of corporate governance arising from ignorance…was absurd, given the sophistication and scale of the church’s operations. CHC was not some struggling new voluntary outfit run by bumbling amateurs with no experience of the financial world.”
DPP Mavis also attacked John Lam who was both the investment committee member and a church board member, for covering up the sham bonds.
Photo of Serina Wee from her blogshop
Serina Wee was not spared from DPP Mavis’s attack:
“(Serina Wee) was arguably the most inextricably involved in all the sham bond and the round-tripping transactions because of the nature of her role as the Crossover administrator.”
PAP MP Edwin Tong and also the lawyer for Kong Hee claimed that every single cent drawn from the bond went into the Crossover project and that Kong Hee and his fellow accused did not make a personal gain. However Edwin Tong did not point out that the one person making all the personal gains is Sun Ho, the wife of Kong Hee.