Commissioner of Charities acts to protect charitable assets - invites representations to proposal to remove individuals

1. Pursuant to section 8 of the Charities Act (“the Act”), the Commissioner of Charities (“COC”) instituted an Inquiry into the City Harvest Church (“the Charity”) on 31 May 2010. From the Report of the Inquiry dated 7 February 2011 (“the Inquiry Report”), it was revealed that there was misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the Charity, particularly in relation to the funds that were in the Building Fund which had been raised and earmarked for specific purposes. Financial irregularities of at least $23 million from the funds have been discovered. These funds were used with the purported intention to finance Ho Yeow Sun’s secular music career. The Inquiry found that there was a concerted effort to conceal the movement of funds from its stakeholders. The details of the main acts of misconduct and mismanagement as extracted from the Report of the Inquiry are provided in the Annex.

2. The COC was concerned about the misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the Charity. As such, the COC had, with the consent of the Attorney General (“AG”), suspended the following nine individuals from the exercise of their office or employment as governing board members, trustees, officers, agents and employees of the Charity under section 25(2)(i) of the Act, pending consideration being given to their removal. Pursuant to section 25A(2) of the Act, they were also suspended from their Executive Memberships of the Charity.

3. According to section 25(9) of the Act, the suspension orders, being a form of interim measure, are valid for a period of not more than 12 months from the dates of the suspension orders. Before the lapse of the 12-month suspension, the COC intends to proceed to the next stage of the process, which is to consider the removal of these individuals from their positions in the Charity based on the Inquiry’s findings, so as to protect the charitable property of the Charity. The individuals removed may continue with their religious duties which are separate from the holding of any governance or management positions in the Charity.

4. The regulatory action by the COC is independent of the criminal proceedings faced by six of the nine affected individuals (i.e. Kong Hee, Lam Leng Hung, Tan Ye Peng, Tan Shao Yuen Sharon, Chew Eng Han and Serina Wee Gek Yin).

5. However in view of the concurrent criminal proceedings against those six, the COC had on 28 December 2012, made a proposal to all the nine suspended individuals that the COC would defer the next stage of any regulatory action should they collectively agree to a voluntary extension of their suspension orders until 6 months after the conclusion of the criminal trial. This was done purely on a goodwill basis. This proposal was made to allow the affected parties time to focus on the criminal proceedings, and also to have sufficient time to make their case during the removal process, should they decide to. In the meantime, the property of the Charity remains protected.

6. The deadline for the consent was extended twice, and by 7 February 2013, eight out of the nine suspended individuals had initially agreed to the proposal made in December 2012. The COC was prepared to consider deferring the next stage of any regulatory action even though one of the suspended individuals declined to give consent. However, when the COC later asked the eight individuals to confirm their agreement to voluntarily extend their suspension (notwithstanding the lack of consent by the remaining individual), only five out of the eight were prepared to do so. Hence in view of the lack of collective agreement among the individuals, and the 12-month duration of the suspension orders, the COC has to proceed to the next stage of the process so as to protect the assets of the Charity.
   

Proposal of the Commissioner of Charities

7. Given the gravity of the Inquiry findings of misconduct and mismanagement in the administration of the Charity, the COC intends to remove the following eight individuals from their respective offices or employment as governing board members, trustees, officers, agents and/or employees of the Charity under section 25(1)(i) of the Act:

   1. Kong Hee;

   2. Lam Leng Hung;

   3. Tan Ye Peng;

   4. Kelvin Teo Meng How;

   5. Tan Shao Yuen Sharon;

   6. Tan Su Pheng Jacqueline;

   7. Chew Eng Han; and

   8. Serina Wee Gek Yin.

8. Further, should an order for removal be made under section 25(1)(i) of the Act, under section 25A(3) of the Act, the COC may terminate their Executive Memberships in the Charity, and prohibit them from resuming their Executive Memberships in the Charity for periods of not less than two years.

9. In respect of Ho Yeow Sun, the COC has reviewed the evidence against her, and at this point takes the view that there is insufficient evidence that she was responsible for, privy to or which by her conduct contributed to or facilitated the misconduct and mismanagement that took place in the Charity. Should new evidence be surfaced which indicates that she was so involved, the COC’s office may carry out further investigations and review the matter. In the meantime, the COC will proceed with the removal proceedings against the other eight individuals.
   

Invitation of representations

10. In relation to the proposal, pursuant to section 29(3) of the Act, the COC has to give notice to the eight individuals to remove them. Further, under section 29(2), read with section 29(1) of the Act, a public notice of the proposal to remove a governing board member, trustee or key officer is also required. It is noted that any such removal of an individual as governing board member, trustee or key officer will mean that the person is prohibited from taking up such positions in any charity in the future.

11. Based on these provisions, the COC has given notice to the following 4 individuals and invited them to make representations on his proposal to remove them:

    1. Tan Shao Yuen Sharon (as employee),

    2. Serina Wee Gek Yin (as employee);

    3. Tan Su Pheng Jacqueline (as employee); and

    4. Chew Eng Han (as agent)

12. For the following 4 individuals, the COC has also given notice and invited them to make representations. In addition, the COC would like to invite representations from the public to be made to him on his proposal to remove these 4 individuals:

    1. Kong Hee (as governing board member)

    2. Lam Leng Hung (as governing board member and trustee);

    3. Tan Ye Peng (as governing board member and trustee); and

    4. Kelvin Teo Meng How (as key officer)

13. Any such representation regarding the COC’s proposal to remove these four individuals, i.e. Kong Hee, Lam Leng Hung, Tan Ye Peng and Kelvin Teo Meng How should be made in writing, and submitted by 13 May 2013 (Monday) via mccy_charities@mccy.gov.sg or by post to the Office of the Commissioner of Charities at 140 Hill Street, #02-00 Old Hill Street Police Station, Singapore 179369, clearly stating “Representations on the COC’s Proposal following the Inquiry into the City Harvest Church”. All representations must be signed off with the full name, NRIC no. and contact details of the person making the representation.

14. For the purpose of making representations in relation to the COC’s proposal to remove Kong Hee (as governing board member), Lam Leng Hung (as governing board member and trustee), Tan Ye Peng (as governing board member and trustee) and Kelvin Teo Meng How (as key officer), should any person with specific information that can affect the findings in the Annex wish to be granted access to the Inquiry Report, he should write in to the COC, providing his full reasons for the request. The COC may at his sole discretion grant such requests if the COC is satisfied that there are good and sufficient reasons for giving that person access to the Inquiry report. Any person granted access must agree to the terms and conditions imposed by the COC for such access.

Invite for representations
Deadline: 13 May 2013
Email: mccy_charities@mccy.gov.sg
Address: Office of the Commissioner of Charities, 140 Hill Street, #02-00 Old Hill Street Police Station, Singapore 179369
Requirement: All representations must be signed off with full name, NRIC number and contact details of the person making the representation.

15. The normal services of the Charity can continue as usual.

Issued by:
The Office of the Commissioner of Charities

9 April 2013

[1] Kong Hee was the President of the Charity’s Board (till 10 April 2011).

[2] Lam Leng Hung was the Treasurer of the Charity’s Board, from 7 March 2010 to 10 April 2011.

[3] Tan Ye Peng was the Vice President of the Charity’s Board till 10 April 2011 (thereafter he was re-designated as Vice-Chairman).

[4] Kelvin Teo Meng How, the Executive Director (Administration Division), is an employee who exercises general control and management of the administration of the charity, and is a key officer of the Charity.