6 Singapore church leaders found guilty of fraud over pastor's wife's failed S$50m music career

City Harvest Church founder Kong Hee (R) and his wife Sun Ho arrive at the State Courts in Singapore

VIDEO: A Sun Ho music video, featuring Wyclef Jean
A video from an English-language single, "China Wine", shows her dancing intimately with rapper Wyclef Jean, sparking criticism that she had betrayed her calling as a Christian pastor.

Six religious leaders in Singapore who used $50 million in church funds in a failed bid to turn the pastor's glamorous wife into a global pop star have been convicted of fraud.

Top left to right: former finance manager Serina Wee, founder Kong Hee, former finance manager Sharon Tan. Bottom left to right: , deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, former treasurer John Lam, and former fund manager Chew Eng Han. Photo: Reuters

After a two-year trial that captivated Singapore with tales of lavish spending and financial deceit, pastor Kong Hee and five aides were found guilty of diverting $Sg24 million ($24 million) to finance his wife Sun Ho's music career, which was portrayed as a religious mission.

The six were also found guilty of misappropriating another $Sg26m from City Harvest Church to cover their tracks, prosecutors said.

Ms Ho, who starred in a music video with rapper Wyclef Jean, was not charged.

The church said Ms Ho's music could be used to attract followers.

On Wednesday, Judge See Kee Oon found the accused guilty of criminal breach of trust or falsification of accounts, or both.

The maximum penalty for criminal breach of trust, which all six were convicted of, is life imprisonment, according to the penal code.

The six were granted bail before their sentencing date, which has not yet been set.

The glamorous couple fell from grace after the leaders were charged in 2013 and the court was told how church funds were spent on music videos, marketing and a luxurious lifestyle

Prosecutors said Kong and his subordinates engaged in a practice called "round-tripping" by channelling money allotted for a church building fund into sham bonds in linked companies so they could finance Ms Ho's music career.

They falsified church accounts to make it appear the bonds were redeemed, prosecutors said. - AFP

Singapore megachurch leaders hit a sour note in pop music fraud case

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The co-founder of a Singapore church and five other leaders were convicted of multi-million dollar fraud on Wednesday for diverting money to support his wife's pop singing career, a rare fall from grace in the tightly regulated city-state.

The mix of money, faith and scandal in the case has fascinated the public in affluent Singapore, where such cases are rare under a system with little tolerance for corruption.

Senior pastor Kong Hee heads City Harvest Church, one of a growing number of Singapore's megachurches preaching "prosperity gospel" that blends spiritual and material aspirations. (http://reut.rs/1LCxhXr)

The churches have ambitions to turn Singapore into a centre for evangelical Christianity and to export their faith to the world. Kong was arrested and charged in 2012 with criminal breach of trust and falsifying accounts.

The six church officials were convicted of diverting nearly S$51 million (£23.97 million) in funds to advance the career of Kong's wife, Ho Yeow Sun.

"There is no doubt that they had something to hide ... They knew they were acting dishonestly," Judge See Kee Oon said in convicting the six in the Singapore subordinate court.

Ho has focused on the Mandarin pop market and has released albums, including "Embrace", through Warner Music Taiwan.

A video from an English-language single, "China Wine", shows her dancing intimately with rapper Wyclef Jean, sparking criticism that she had betrayed her calling as a Christian pastor.

Ho, the co-founder and executive director of the church, was not charged in the case.

The church, which had around 17,000 members last year, has stuck by its leader. It held a prayer session for Kong and others on Tuesday night and Ho issued a message of support after the court ruling.

"Thank you for your unwavering faithfulness in loving God and loving one another. More than ever before, let’s have a unity that is unbreakable," she said on the church website.

(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Writing by Rodney Joyce; Editing by Paul Tait)

Related

The rise of mega-churches in Singapore

Correcting DNA mistakes

Using the knowledge of how the cell repair systems work will open the door to more effective cancer treatments



UNDERSTANDING how our cells repair damaged DNA, a breakthrough which earned the Nobel Chemistry Prize recently, could make cancer treatment more effective, experts say.

By revealing how our cells automatically fix DNA mutations which can lead to illness, the discovery opened the door to significantly improving chemotherapy’s effectiveness against cancer, which kills some eight million people worldwide each year.

“You can use this knowledge to destroy cancer,” said Nora Goosen, a DNA repair expert at Leiden University in the Netherlands.

Chemotherapy attacks cancer cells by trying to scramble their genetic code and thus their ability to multiply, but cancer cells, just like healthy ones, do not give up without a fight.

he cell repair systems are going to try to undo the work of doctors by fixing the damage the doctors were trying to inflict,” said Terence Strick, a DNA repair researcher at the Jacques Monod Institute in Paris.

One solution would be to inhibit the ability of cancerous cells to self-mend.

“If you attack these repair mechanisms (in cancer cells) in combination with chemotherapy and other drugs ... it (treatment) can be more effective,” Goosen said.

Sweden’s Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich of the United States and Turkish-American Aziz Sancar were awarded the top chemistry award for unravelling the process by which our cells repair mutations caused to DNA by the Sun or carcinogenic substances found in alcohol and cigarettes, for example.

Mistakes in DNA, the chemical code for making and sustaining life, can cause cells to malfunction, age prematurely, and become cancerous.

The vast majority of changes to our DNA are immediately corrected, but some accumulate and lead to cancer. Some people are more susceptible to cancer because their DNA repair response is faulty.

Ironically, the same repair mechanism identified by the Nobel laureates can also cause cancerous cells to resist the effects of cancer treatment.

Alan Worsley, a spokesman for the charity Cancer Research UK, said new drugs are being developed to fight the disease.

He cited the treatment olaparib, which stops cancer cells from fixing DNA damage. It was approved by the European Commission in December 2014 for use in Europe.

Alain Sarasin of France’s CNRS research institute highlighted the risks of interfering with DNA repair systems.

“We don’t yet know how to target tumour cells specifically. If we gave a patient a molecule which inhibits the self-repair mechanism of cancer cells, it may also inhibit the repair systems of other cells like white blood cells,” he said.

“If, one day, we have a molecule which reinforces the DNA repair and can be targeted to blood cells, for example, followed by chemotherapy after, this would allow us to increase the chemotherapy dosage without unintentionally killing blood cells.

“For now, we don’t know how to do that.” – AFP

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Sino-UK ties herald golden time with West

• Buckingham Palace prepares for Xi Jinping visit

  

  President Xi Jinping's visit will also receive a warm welcome from the British Monarchy. Queen Elizabeth the second, who has met with some of the most famous leaders in recent history, is expected to greet President Xi at Buckingham Palace.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to the UK is drawing increasing attention in the UK and in the rest of Europe. British Prime Minister David Cameron said both countries have entered a "golden time" in their ties, a high-profile exhibition of Britain's willingness to be China's "best partner in the West."



Cameron's meeting with the Dalai Lama in 2012 was a turning point in Sino-UK relations. For 18 months, Beijing gave London the cold shoulder, while at the same time developing cordial relationships with Germany and France. The low ebb in bilateral ties happened when Europe was deeply troubled. Although China had struggled with Germany and France over the same problem in 2007 and 2008, by 2012, China was much stronger and was deemed more influential. Now, China has become more attractive to Europe than ever, and that has served to transform the foundation of China-EU relations.

The UK has shown its adept diplomatic skills while re-calibrating its relationship with China. It was the first European nation to announce that it had applied to join the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, an international financial institution proposed by China. This decision thawed the previous discord. Since then, the UK has committed itself to turning London into the biggest offshore yuan center other than Hong Kong. Cameron has received Ren Zhengfei, president of Huawei, one of China's biggest telecommunications companies. He also invited Chinese companies to invest in a new nuclear power station project. Such actions have set examples in Europe.

As an old empire, the UK has declined, but its foundation is solid. With a special relationship with the US, London knows how to communicate with Washington over China issues.

London making a friendly gesture to China shows that Western countries are trying to redress their deep-rooted political prejudices and explore more potential to develop relations with China.

To a large extent, London's friendliness toward China stems from the pursuit of more benefits, but it shows that the spillover of China's development in many respects has become an irresistible attraction. Nothing can guarantee that country-to-country relations will develop on a certain course without having to worry about derailment. So far, historical experience has shown us that the bond of interests is one of the most reliable mechanisms that can maintain a reciprocal bilateral relationship.

China and the UK need each other. As the US is becoming weaker in exporting interests to Europe, China is providing more opportunities to the UK, while China also needs a Western country to set an example for a new China-West relationship.

It must be noted that political and ideological misunderstandings will remain a challenge for both sides. How to deal with them is a long-term issue.- Global Times

Xiangshan defense forum: PLA prowess persists without tough talk; US provocative risks destabilizing region

Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan (4th right) claps next to his counterparts from Asean during the China-AseanDefense Ministers' Informal Meeting in Beijing, China, October 16, 2015. China’s Xiangshan defence forum followed the informal Asean meeting today. — Reuters pic -

http://english.cntv.cn/2015/10/19/VIDE1445203562702201.shtml

At the sixth Xiangshan Forum on Saturday, Fan Changlong, vice- chairman of China's Central Military Commission, said China has always advocated dealing with disputes through peaceful means and will not use violence recklessly, even if it comes to territory and sovereignty. The quote was soon singled out and garbled by netizens without mentioning the context, resulting in the wrong impression that the Chinese military is "too weak."

The commitment of the forum is to facilitate communication between governments and militaries in security policies, but the ordinary Chinese people have also shown much interest in it. It is difficult for top Chinese military officers to please every one of them.

In fact, Fan's remarks have more clearly reflected China's stance over territorial issues. China does not use force recklessly, but, as it always insists, will use whatever is necessary to safeguard sovereign integrity.

China's military building has garnered worldwide attention, and its construction works on some of the Nansha Islands are misunderstood to be a process of militarization. This misunderstanding is the bone of contention in the South China Sea disputes, and a focus of the Sino-US rivalry in this region. Concerns arise due to the simmering tensions, and how to soothe neighboring countries is of strategic significance for China.

China is not at the appropriate moment to emphasize its military prowess. It is more important to declare to the world that China will utilize this power with caution. In this way, the international community will put more faith in China's rise as a responsible global player.

China needs to coordinate military building with the publicity about the prudent use of force in the future. As a rising power, this could put China on the moral high ground, where it can avoid becoming a focal point of political conflicts.

An unreasonably tough stance, used as an emotional outlet for the public, is not what a government should adopt. A deliberate show of strength can only reveal a country's lack of confidence in regional and international affairs. Powerful countries seldom deliver harsh words in most circumstances.

The Chinese must understand that on the road to rejuvenation, China needs strength as much as it needs wisdom and an open mind. The country is more than able to defend itself by force, but it needs more than force to deal with many other kinds of conflicts. The US for example, which has the most powerful military, still cannot handle every security issue without using other leverage. We need to put more trust in both the Chinese military and diplomats. They know how to do their job well, and they cannot be disrupted by radical nationalists. Global Times

Planned U.S. provocative move in S. China Sea risks destabilizing region

Fan Changlong (right), vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Hun Sen, prime minister of Cambodia, at a welcoming dinner for Xiangshan Forum participants on Friday. FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY

http://cctv.cntv.cn/lm/dialogue/index.shtml

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15 -- The United States could shoot itself in the foot if it proceeds with planned naval patrols in the adjacent waters off China's islands in the South China Sea, as such provocation will risk creating miscalculation and destabilizing the region.

U.S. military officials and government spokespersons have recently indicated the country's intention to send navy ships to sail within 12 nautical miles of the islands where China has recently done reclamation work, in a move deliberately designed to challenge China's territorial claims.

The U.S. government is having a hard time trying to justify such provocative step.

Firstly, such a plan obviously contradicts Washington's public statement that it takes no stand over the territorial claims by six parties in the South China Sea region.

Secondly, the United States says it will do so in order to exert so-called rights of freedom of navigation as the international law allows. But, the fact is China has never done anything to infringe upon the freedom of navigation in the region.

On the contrary, China has a vested interest in protecting such rights as most of its flow of commerce in foreign trade passes through the sea lanes in the region.

Thirdly, it is a fallacy for Washington to claim that such step is designed to prevent the militarization of the South China Sea while China has already pledged that it has no intention to pursue militarization of the newly reclaimed islands.

Beijing has clearly stated that its construction of facilities in the region is mainly for the purposes of maintenance, improving living conditions for the stationed personnel and providing common goods to the international community by offering service to foreign ships sailing in the region.

The U.S. move, if carried out, will leave China no choice but to beef up its defense capabilities.

Furthermore, it will be a slap in its own face if the United States resorts to military intimidation to exert its alleged rights, because it has been calling for the claimant countries to settle their maritime disputes through peaceful means.

No doubt that if Washington goes ahead with the patrol plan, it should bear responsibility for escalating tensions in the region, raising danger of miscalculation, and complicating the efforts to seek diplomatic resolution of the disputes.

Washington should also be clear-eyed to the fact that some claimants in the region, such as the Philippines, a U.S. ally, will be encouraged by the U.S. move to take more provocative steps to challenge China and destabilize the region.

China has already urged the United States to avoid taking the provocative step in the South China Sea at a time when the China-U.S. relationship has just improved due to Chinese President Xi Jinping's fruitful state visit in late September.

During the visit, Xi and his U.S. host Barack Obama renewed their commitment to building a new model of major-country relationship featuring no confrontation, no conflict, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

They also promised to further enhance military-to-military ties and expand cooperation on a wide range of issues for the benefit of both peoples and the world as a whole.

So, it will be a grave mistake for the United States to use military means to challenge China, as it will inevitably damage the newly-generated positive momentum in the bilateral ties and could lead to dangerous misunderstanding between the two militaries.

Washington boasts the strongest military power in the world, but this by no means justifies its act of bullying any other country at its will. China has every right to defend its rights and strategic interests, and will respond to any provocation appropriately and decisively.- Xinhua

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  US warned against 'provocations': patrol plan risks 'escalating tensions'

  A J-15, China's first generation of carrier-based fighter jet, takes off from the Liaoning. Firm reaction for US sea provocation ...

US warned against 'provocations': patrol plan risks 'escalating tensions'

A J-15, China's first generation of carrier-based fighter jet, takes off from the Liaoning.

Firm reaction for US sea provocation

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said US ships and aircraft would "fly, sail and operate whenever international law permits" in response to a question about whether the US would enter 12 nautical miles of China's "artificial islands" in the South China Sea. Carter said the South China Sea would not be an exception.

It was reported by US media recently that US military vessels would enter within 12 nautical miles from China's "artificial islands" in the South China Sea, and challenge China's construction work in that region and claims over the Nansha Islands. It is said that relevant plans have been submitted to the president's office. China may face a grave test imposed by Washington's escalation of tensions over the maritime disputes.

"Artificial island" is an inaccurate depiction of China's construction work in the South China Sea. China is expanding, not building these islands out of thin air. The expanding national interest in terms of waters and air space is not yet clearly defined by international law. Whether this ambiguity could trigger major-power conflicts depends on what major powers think.

China has not made any statement about the expansion of its sovereignty due to the construction work, and China has no intention of claiming more sovereignty. Washington's ceaseless provocations and coercion can only demonstrate that it does not intend to protect freedom of navigation in this region, as China has clearly stated that the right will not be impeded. What the US wants is to play rough against China and stress its hegemony.

In this case, China mustn't tolerate rampant US violations of China's adjacent waters and the skies over these expanding islands. The Chinese military should be ready to launch countermeasures according to Washington's level of provocation.

The US must have known that China's reclamation work does not contravene international law, so Washington has no sufficient reason to stop China. Despite the legitimacy of China's construction work and the public good it can provide, if the US adopts an aggressive approach, it will be a breach of China's bottom line, and China will not sit idly by.

China has remained calm with self-restraint even in the face of Washington's escalating provocations, but if the US encroaches on China's core interests, the Chinese military will stand up and use force to stop it.

If Washington wants to prove it can keep its military edge in China's offshore areas, then let it come. US military forces will have a chance to test the deterrence of its equipment and its willingness to show off its hegemony on China's doorstep at any cost.

The South China Sea is not a place where countries can act wantonly. Rules should be jointly made by all stakeholders, and US military ships cannot dominate the region. Washington has over-estimated the effect of its military prowess. - Global Times

US patrol plan risks ‘escalating tensions’

Tensions in the South China Sea could spiral out of control if the US starts patrolling too close to Chinese islands, with any military confrontation between China and the US escalating to a dangerous level, analysts said Wednesday.

Speaking after a two-day meeting between US and Australian foreign and defense ministers in Boston, US defense secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday that the US would sail and fly wherever international law allows, including the South China Sea.

His remarks were rebuked by China's foreign ministry, which said China has indisputable sovereignty over certain South China Sea islands and their surrounding waters and that China is not the one that had militarized the region.

"I want to point out that some countries have recently flexed their military muscles again and again in the South China Sea," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing Wednesday.

FM: Construction is our int'l responsibility

China has denied its island-building in the South China Sea would "militarize" the area, after

http://t.cn/RyBAP3C

"This is the biggest factor in the militarization of the South China Sea. We hope the relevant countries cease hyping up the South China Sea issue and scrupulously abide by their promises not to take sides on the territorial disputes," she said.

Carter's statement came a day after The New York Times reported that the US has been briefing its allies in Asia, including the Philippines, on plans to conduct naval patrols near Chinese islands, which could come as close as within the 12 nautical mile limit. The patrols look more imminent according to a Wednesday Reuters report, which, by quoting some analysts in Washington, said the patrols could happen at the end of this or next week.

Countermeasures

"What will happen is that China will take necessary countermeasures [if the US begins patrolling the area.] The actual measures will depend on how frequently the US decides to enter the airspace or waters close to the islands and what kind of aircraft or ship they plan to send," Wu Shicun, president of the National Institute for the South China Sea, told the Global Times.

According to Wu, the first measure would involve diplomatic and military warnings. If the situation escalates, China may dispatch planes to tail US aircraft to decide if there is hostile intent. If this is believed to be so, the next step would be for the Chinese military to expel the US ships and planes.

Wu warned that there could be considerable danger, and if further measures need to be taken, the risk of a military clash or even casualties, based on either miscalculation or coincidence, would significantly rise.

"I think the bottom line for both China and the US is to make sure there is no open conflict or casualties," Wu said. His opinion was echoed by Hu Bo, a professor at the Peking University Ocean Strategy Research Center, who said that both China and the US will remain restrained to prevent any confrontation from evolving into a full-blown war.

"The problem is, both countries need to demonstrate their strong will to the world while trying to keep their heads cool. This makes controlling the situation difficult," Hu said.

Although entering within 12 nautical miles of Chinese islands may not be technically difficult for the US military, analysts believe the important question the US should ask itself is whether it will face a better situation in the South China Sea if it decided to take such action. "China is unlikely to let the US get away with it. A likely outcome would be a long-term military stand-off in the South China Sea," Hu said.

Civilian use stressed

The US intervention could also change what China plans to do with the South China Sea islands, experts said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said last month during his visit to the US that China did not intend to militarize the islands. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua on Wednesday re-iterated that China's purpose of island construction is for civilian use.

She noted that China is only deploying limited military equipment for necessary defensive purposes, which is "understandable given that some countries are flexing their muscles and frequently conduct targeted large-scale military exercises with allies."

"The proportion of military facilities on these islands depends on how much threat the US and its allies exert on China," Wu said. "If the US military comes within 12 nautical miles of these islands, it would only be more reasonable for China to speed up its construction of military facilities, which at the moment is restrained," Hu said.

By Bai Tiantian (Global Times)