City Harvest pastor Kong Hee and the other 5 church members who make up the Gang of Frauds have had their sentences halved following this morning’s ruling on the appeal against their conviction.
The six were found guilty in October 2015 of misappropriating about S$50 million of church funds.
Today’s verdict came after a five-day appeal heard in September last year by a three-judge panel, including Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Justices Woo Bih Li and Chan Seng Onn.
Kong Hee will start his 3.5-year jail term in 2 weeks.
Kong Hee – 8 years to 3.5 years
Serina Wee – 5 years to 2.5 years
Tan Ye Peng – 5.5 years to 3 years and 2 months
Chew Eng Han – 6 years to 3 years and 4 months
John Lam – 3 years to 1.5 years
Sharon Tan – 21 months to 7 months.
The City Harvest case is the largest amount of charity funds ever misappropriated in Singapore.
The money, which came from church donations, was used to bankroll the secular music career of Kong Hee’s wife, Sun Ho, without the knowledge of the congregation.
A total of S$24 million was channelled into sham investments, which were then used to bankroll Ms Ho’s music career and liftsyle.
Another S$26 million was used to cover up the initial scam to fool auditors.
