City Harvest Church members may raise money for those accused of fraud
inSing.com - 1 August 2012 2:26 PM | Updated 2:40 PM
City Harvest Church members who want to give money to help offset the legal and court fees of their founder Kong Hee may now do so in their own capacity.
Mr Aries Zulkarnain, the church’s executive pastor, has given his consent to this.
Members may also raise money for the other five people involved in the corruption scandal.
Kong Hee, 47, and five other senior members of the mega church have been charged in court with misusing millions in church funds. Some of them have also been charged with falsifying accounts.
During an annual general meeting held on 29 July, the church voted in four new members to its 10-member board. Its online site reported that the new members to the board are Mr Aries Zulkarnian, Mr Rick Chan, a partner at accounting firm Mazars LLP, Mr Lee Tat Haur, a senior associate at DDA Resources Architects in Singapore and an adjunct lecturer, and Dr Victor Lim, who works in the Ministry of Education.
They will replace the three positions that were suspended after the original appointment holders were charged in court, as well as a board member who is not involved in the corruption case, but chose to step down.
The Straits Times reported that during the meeting, the executive members of the board indicated their support for their leaders. Three members suggested that the board should ask the Commissioner of Charity to allow the church to use its funds to pay for the lawyer and court fees for the six people embroiled in the court case. They also said that if their request is rejected, they will raise money through the members.
Mr Zulkarnian responded by saying that while the church cannot use its funds to help the six, individual members are free to raise money for them as long as they adhere to the relevant laws and regulations.
At the meeting, attended by more than 560 people at its Jurong West premises, members received copies of the church’s “progress report”. The report showed that the number of people attending the services has increased since news of the scandal broke. The figure was 22,049 in 2010 and 20,619 in 2011. However, last month, the congregation size was 21,084.
In addition, an executive member said that “due to the surrounding circumstances, the finance department and the auditors have to prepare their accounts and carry out their audit in the Commercial Affairs Department”.
The auditing is expected to be completed in three months and a special conference will be organised to present the financial report.
In the latest development on Tuesday (31 July), the court has granted Kong Hee permission to travel overseas for his pastoral engagements, and doubled his bail to S$1 million. The City Harvest site showed that he may be travelling to the US and Taiwan.