Chew Eng Han denies conspiring with others to cause losses to CHC

SINGAPORE — Seeking to prove that he was never in a position to decide how church monies were used, former City Harvest Church investment manager Chew Eng Han said he was looped in on email correspondence only when church founder Kong Hee and his deputy Tan Ye Peng wanted to know if there were funds available to draw down on.

“As a fund manager and church member, I deferred to what I thought was the pastor’s spiritual wisdom,” Chew said, taking the stand for the second day in the fourth tranche of the long-running trial yesterday.

Asserting that it was never his intention to conspire with others to cause losses to the church, Chew said he had always believed Kong’s wife Ho Yeow Sun’s track record, as conveyed by Kong, and thus saw no reason to doubt the “investment” in the Crossover until the course of court proceedings.

“Even if we put 100 per cent in Xtron bonds, it does not mean there is dishonesty. It means the church is confident that Sun will make it. The only reason why we would take high risks is because of high potential of returns,” he said.

Instead, Kong had painted too rosy a picture of Ms Ho’s music career, in using church funds for the project to evangelise through Ho’s pop music.

“Surely in his own conscience, he knew that Sun was not ready ... He owed a duty to tell his team what was happening — that the fan base was not good, that sales were not totally real ... (Kong Hee) should know if the Crossover project was really an investment,” Chew charged.

Although he had suggested several times disclosing that church funds were used to fund Ho’s music career, these requests were declined, he added.

Chew, Kong and Tan are three of six church leaders accused of misappropriating S$24 million in church building funds for Ms Ho’s music career through sham bonds and another S$26.6 million to cover up the first amount.

Chew, who is without a lawyer, also contended that Ms Ho’s apparent success in Asia, which included Mandarin albums and English singles that topped various charts multiple times, was “manipulated and in some cases falsified”.

But Kong, who was in the know, had failed to explain this to several others who had worked hard for the project, Chew said.

Kong and Tan held primary discretion in allocating money and had called for additional budget where they saw fit, Chew said, adding that the church’s accountant Serina Wee was also aware of these decisions.

A majority of Ms Ho’s past albums were purchased by church members and using funds from Xtron Productions, Chew told the court through a series of email evidence, including one written by Ms Ho’s personal assistant, who expressed concern that Ms Ho’s genuine fan base was not more than one or two thousand people.

Chew added that the church’s former lawyer Christina Ng was in the know of Chew’s role and that his intentions were “pure ... and furthest from any conspiracy”.

The trial continues.