Gyrating pop stars, embezzlement and faith: Singapore’s City Harvest Church scandal headed for the top court
High Court halved lead pastor Kong Hee’s eight-year jail sentence, which was meted out to him in 2015 for his part in siphoning nearly S$50 million
The fraud scandal that has for years engulfed Singapore’s City Harvest Church has all the elements of a hit white-collar Netflix crime drama: faith, money, embezzlement, pop music and a touch of sleaze – there might even be a fresh plot twist to come.
The main protagonist, the church’s founder and lead pastor Kong Hee, 52, was back in the spotlight this week after the High Court halved an eight-year jail sentence meted out to him in 2015 for his part in siphoning nearly S$50 million (HK$278 million) from the organisation to finance his wife’s failed bid to become a global pop star.
In a society with little tolerance for graft – Singapore is one of the world’s least corrupt places – the sentence reduction raised eyebrows, particularly among those who question whether Kong and the five others implicated in the case got off lightly because of their ability to afford expensive top-tier lawyers.
Sing when you’re sinning? Six Singaporean church leaders convicted for US$36 million fraud
The initial court trial from 2013 to 2015 caused consternation when prosecutors revealed how some of the funds embezzled by Kong and his associates were used to fund marketing campaigns and music videos of his wife Sun Ho, a Mandarin pop star who was launching an English-language singing career when the ploy was uncovered.
One media report said the total legal fees for the six, who all pleaded not guilty, would hit S$20 million.
Chong Ja Ian, a politics researcher at the National University of Singapore, said public disquiet following the April 7 High Court ruling was down to “the view or perhaps the fear that the legal system works more for the rich and powerful than for ordinary people”.