A Singaporean court yesterday cut the jail sentence for the cofounder of one of the city-state’s most popular churches, after he appealed his conviction and sentence for misusing millions of dollars to support his wife’s pop singing career.
The Singaporean Court of Appeal sentenced City Harvest Church (CHC) head Kong Hee (康希), 52, to three-and-a-half years for criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts, reducing the eight-year term he received in October 2015.
Five other church leaders also had their sentences reduced.
Kong was found guilty of misusing S$50 million (US$35.7 million at the current exchange rate) of church money to fund his wife’s musical career.
Local media said it was the largest amount of charity funds ever misappropriated in Singapore.
The church preaches a “prosperity gospel” that blends spiritual and material aspirations.
Kong’s wife, Ho Yeow Sun (何耀珊) — known as Sun Ho — is famous for a video of her English-language hit China Wine, which shows her dancing intimately with rapper Wyclef Jean.
The defense has said her music career was used to evangelize.
She was not charged in the case.
“This was a situation which ... involved no personal gain on the appellants’ part,” judge Chao Hick Tin said. “They believed that their acts ... would ultimately advance the interests of CHC.”
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