Ex-CHC fund manager Chew Eng Han and firm allowed to fight S$21m suit without paying S$1.5m security

SINGAPORE — The apex court has given City Harvest Church’s (CHC) former fund manager Chew Eng Han and his firm the green light to defend themselves against a S$21 million civil suit without having to fork out a S$1.5 million security.

The security was a condition imposed by Judicial Commissioner Chua Lee Ming earlier when he allowed Chew and his firm AMAC Capital Partners to fight a default judgment that they owed CHC S$21 million in unreturned investments, including S$4.6 million in accrued interest. These investments had been made in four tranches.

In coming to the decision, JC Lee found that there was enough evidence for Chew to argue his contention that CHC had breached the Moneylenders Act by issuing illegal loans in exchange for high interest rates. But this only applied for the first three tranches of investments, and not the fourth.

If Chew wanted to argue over the fourth tranche, he would have to pay a S$1.5 million security, the judge said.

In hearing Chew and AMAC’s appeal against this condition on Tuesday (Aug 16), Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon questioned if it was possible to make distinctions between the tranches when the case was going to trial.

Lawyers for CHC argued that there was no evidence to show that money-lending was involved in the last tranche of investments and that a security was warranted if Chew and AMAC wanted to defend their claim.

But the Court of Appeal overruled them.

Chew, who left the church in June 2013, is also appealing against his conviction and sentence in a separate criminal case involving five other church leaders. The six of them were convicted of misusing church funds and were sentenced to jail terms of 21 months to eight years.