Singapore Pastor Kong Hee 'Maintains Integrity' as Fraud Case Leads to 6th Arrest
Kong Hee, pastor and founder of Singapore's City Harvest Church, attended court Wednesday for his second hearing in a trial in which he is being accused of misusing $18 million of church funds. Kong has also issued a statement, vowing to rigorously defend his integrity.
"I do maintain my integrity, and will rigorously defend that integrity against these charges," Kong, 47, said Wednesday, according to Singaporean newswire Today Online.
"Sun and I would like to take this opportunity to thank God for all the people who have blessed us with their love, kindness and prayers during this challenging period of time. We have been tremendously humbled by the support and encouragement from the public, family and friends. We especially thank all those from City Harvest Church and the Christian community at large. They have been a constant source of strength," the pastor added.
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"I respect the Court proceedings which are underway, and will not make any comment about the charges until the appropriate time and forum," he concluded.
Kong, who founded City Harvest Church in 2001, attended court Wednesday without the accompaniment of his wife, Ho Yeow Sun, according to The Straits Times.
The pastor has been accused of "dishonestly misappropriating monies" from the church's building fund to promote and support the pop music career of Sun, who is in her early 40s. His charges also include three counts of "criminal breach of trust." Kong could face life in prison if found guilty on all three charges.
Kong's fellow ministry leaders Pastor Tan Ye Peng, John Lam, Chew Eng Han and Sharon Tanon have also been charged with three counts of criminal breach of trust.
Additionally, a sixth church executive, City Harvest Church's former finance chief Serina Wee, received 10 criminal charges Wednesday morning, including six for a criminal breach of trust and four for falsified records for allegedly helping to transfer funds to Kong's personal accounts.
After a two-year investigation, the Commercial Affairs Department, which investigates financial crime, found that Kong had allegedly been making "sham transactions" by allocating massive amounts of money to "purported bond investments," which were then being funneled into Sun's accounts.
Kong and his wife gained celebrity status in Singapore when they founded City Harvest. The evangelical, non-denominational church is one of Singapore's largest, with a membership of 30,000.
