Crossover Project在豐收教會曆來是公開的，隻是政府認為不是專款專用

» No funds lost, says church; Crossover Project to continue	Business Times: Fri, Jun 29
[SINGAPORE] The executive pastor of City Harvest Church (CHC) claimed in a statement yesterday that the church did not suffer any financial loss and no one made personal profit from the transactions that are now at the centre of a court case. Aries Zulkarnain, a founding member of CHC, also spoke to the press for the first time since the police arrested church founder and board member Kong Hee, chairman John Lam Leng Hung, vice-chairman Tan Ye Peng, and two other church members on Tuesday. The five were charged on Wednesday for allegedly siphoning $24 million from CHC via sham bond investments to fund the music career of Sun Ho, who is Kong's wife. They were also accused of using another $26.6 million to cover the tracks via a series of complex transactions. "As a church we stand with them and I believe fully in their integrity," Mr Zulkarnain said. BT had earlier asked the police if the initial $24 million allegedly misappropriated was returned to the church. A police spokeswoman replied on Wednesday: "Generally, in law, the offence of criminal breach of trust of monies is established once there is misappropriation of the monies with the requisite intent, regardless of whether there have or have not been subsequent attempts at restitution by the accused." Mr Zulkarnain said that the case has not affected church activities. "City Harvest Church will continue to do its work. Our services and cell group meetings will carry on as usual. As a church we will continue to take care of our members and our community." Separately, the Commissioner of Charities (COC) has suspended the five individuals facing charges, along with Ms Ho and two others, from holding any job or office at the church as governing board members, officers, agents or employees. But Kong, who is senior pastor, and Tan, who is deputy senior pastor, will continue to preach at the church, Mr Zulkarnain said. "We have confirmed this with COC." There are now seven people left on the church's board, down from ten. The church has until July 29 to hold an annual general meeting to decide on its new board composition. The church's Crossover Project, which was started in 2002 to use Sun Ho's singing and music to reach out to non-Christians, will also carry on. But Ms Ho will not front these concerts for now. "It's basically engaging the world out there. . . One of the ways we'd like to help people and touch people outside, one of the best ways, is of course through music," Mr Zulkarnain said. On Tuesday, the COC said that its inquiry found financial irregularities, with funds used "with the purported intention to finance Ho Yeow Sun's secular music career to connect with people". Yesterday, CHC stated: "The Crossover Project is not about one person's singing career; it is a mission that is fundamental to the congregation of CHC." Mr Zulkarnain said that under the Crossover Project, more than 80 concerts were held between 2002 and 2009 and drew a million people. The church estimates that 390,000 of these people responded at these concerts. "People come forward to the front of a meeting and pray a prayer and receive Christ," said CHC advisory pastor Phil Pringle, who is the senior pastor of C3 Church in Sydney. "It's the missions part of this church, with a different name - Crossover. Missions is accepted in the church world as a core part of the activity. The reason a church even exists is to have a mission beyond its four walls, otherwise it loses relevance. So it's a core tenet of faith for City Harvest Church," said Dr Pringle. He said that by 2010, the church had launched 96 humanitarian projects globally as a result of the Crossover Project, though these are separate from the project itself. "It opens doors for us to go to disaster relief areas," said Bobby Chaw, CHC board member and its pastor in charge of missions. Speaking on behalf of the board, Mr Chaw expressed disappointment with some of the media's coverage so far, particularly that related to the COC inquiry. "In some instances, they seem to have pre-judged us. We will be dealing with this in due course," he said. Mr Chaw said the church was surprised that the COC chose to implement suspensions without prior notice. "We have been cooperating with COC for two years since the start of the case, so these sudden suspensions came as a surprise to us," he said. After the Commercial Affairs Department launched a probe into alleged misuse of funds at the church in May 2010, CHC engaged external auditors RSM Chio Lim to conduct a full internal audit. Mr Chaw said that the church has been putting the auditors' recommendations into action and will continue to do so. Board renewal was one of the issues raised and the church replaced half of its board with new members in 2011. "We appreciate the need to maintain good corporate governance, and we are continuously working with MCYS to do so," he said. Asked about an open letter to MCYS written by one of the church's executive members, who numbered over 700 in 2009, Mr Zulkarnain said that the church did not know about the letter till he sent it. "We're encouraging our members to be patient, compliant and good citizens of Singapore," he said. CHC is not facing any charges, and its legal adviser is Senior Counsel Michael Hwang. The church said it is not paying the legal fees of the five facing charges. The case is up for further mention on July 25. Source: Business Times

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• 回複：Crossover Project在豐收教會曆來是公開的，隻是政府認為不是專款專用 -insight777- ♂ (0 bytes) () 06/29/2012 postreply 06:03:07

• 回複：Crossover Project在豐收教會曆來是公開的，隻是政府認為不是專款專用 -insight777- ♂ (2994 bytes) () 06/29/2012 postreply 06:05:22