SINGAPORE — City Harvest Church’s former finance manager Sharon Tan was only a “mouthpiece” who had “limited understanding” of the alleged conspiracy to misappropriate the mega-church’s funds, or to falsify its accounts, argued defence lawyer Paul Seah on Friday (Sept 16), as he sought to overturn her conviction. 

He stressed that Tan — who was last year sentenced to 21 months’ jail for three counts of criminal breach of trust and four accounts falsification charges — was not involved in the church’s decision to invest in the bonds at the centre of the conspiracy. Her involvement came about after she took over as the church’s finance manager from January 2008. Tan, now 40, had her “entire life built around the church”, said Mr Seah, adding that CHC was the only church she had attended since she became a Christian when she was 15. 

“CHC is the bedrock of her life … She wholeheartedly embraced its mission and vision, including the Crossover Project. Everything she did over the years … was done with the purest of motives in what she thought to be in CHC’s best interests,” he said.

Tan had been working in the church’s accounts department since January 2000 and also met her husband in CHC. “CHC was not merely Ms Tan’s workplace, but was also (her) church and spiritual bedrock, a place where she was taught to believe, and to trust, in both her faith and in her leaders,” said Mr Seah in written submissions presented earlier to the court. 

“The trial judge himself had found that she had no intent to cause harm to the church.”

Tan, church founder Kong Hee, his former second-in-command Tan Ye Peng, former church board member John Lam, former church investment manager Chew Eng Han, and former church finance manager Serina Wee, were found guilty of the unauthorised use of S$24 million in church building funds for the music career of Kong’s wife Ho Yeow Sun, and “round-tripping” another S$26.6 million to cover up the first sum. All are appealing against their convictions.

Mr Seah argued that unlike her five co-accused who either held top leadership positions or sat on CHC’s board at some point, Tan held a low position in the church’s hierarchy and merely “followed instructions”. 

Even when senior pastor Tan Ye Peng and the church’s then-fund manager Chew Eng Han were devising plans to redeem the bonds, Tan was largely left out of the meetings and was only roped in occasionally to “provide facts and figures”. 

“Sharon Tan shows absolutely no understanding of the plans, she doesn’t know how it works … Sharon was merely a mouthpiece, reporting certain things,” said Mr Seah. 

And at each step of this process, Tan showed “eagerness” for the plans to be given the green light by the professionals, and was assured as such, said Mr Seah. “The trial judge erred in tarring Sharon with the same brush as the other co-accused.”

He also questioned if the prosecution had “proved beyond a reasonable doubt” that the accused persons’ alleged wrong use of funds was driven by a “desire to cause a loss” to the church. “If their chief desire was to the advantage of the church, then the criminal breach of trust charges should fail,” he said.