Kong at fault if Crossover financing was illegal: Prosecution

SINGAPORE – If two of his co-accused had worked out financing for the Crossover that later turned out to be illegal, would City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee - the man behind the project’s vision - be at fault?

The prosecution posed this question to Kong, who is accused of misusing church funds for the Crossover Project fronted by his pop singer wife to reach out to non-Christians.

If Kong answered the question truthfully, he would have to implicate himself, argued Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong this morning in court.

Kong responded that he was not a lawyer and would leave the question for the court to decide. He maintained that he worked on the budget for his wife Ho Yeow Sun’s music album to be launched in the United States, but left its financing to two co-accused, Tan Ye Peng and Chew Eng Han.

But the prosecution sought to show he was very hands-on with Ms Ho’s career. In an email Kong wrote to Tan in 2007, he reprimanded Tan for disappointing promotional efforts in Hong Kong and China. Kong rapped Tan for saving thousands of dollars on hotel rooms but wasting hundreds of thousands in engaging sub-par consultants for “result-less concerts”.