SINGAPORE: Former City Harvest Church fund manager Chew Eng Han was arrested on Wednesday morning (Feb 21) for attempting to flee the country in a sampan, the police said at a news conference.
The 57-year-old, one of six church leaders convicted in 2015 of misappropriating S$50 million of church funds, had been out on bail and was due to turn himself in on Thursday to begin his jail term.
Another man, 53-year-old Tan Poh Teck, who was piloting the motorised sampan, was also arrested.
In a split decision by the High Court last April, Chew had his original six-year jail sentence lowered to three years and four months. Chew is the only one of the six who has not started serving his jail term for criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts.
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Three Police Coast Guard boats intercepted the motorised sampan in the sea off Pulau Ubin at about 8.45am on Wednesday after acting on a tip-off. About S$5,000 and fishing equipment was found on the boat.
The two men in the boat said they were going fishing when they were surrounded by the Police Coast Guard vessels about 2.4km away from the Pulau Ubin jetty, Channel NewsAsia understands. However, preliminary police investigations suggest the boat was headed to Malaysia.
It is understood that the two did not resist arrest.
Chew is currently held in the police lock-up in Cantonment Complex. He will be charged in court on Thursday morning.
Both men may be jailed up to six months and fined S$2,000 if found guilty of leaving Singapore unlawfully.
Chew Eng Han was found on board a motorised sampan in the sea off Pulau Ubin with about S$5,000 in cash and fishing equipment. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
Items seized from the motorised sampan. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
Police also arrested a third man, 61-year-old Chew Eng Soon, on Wednesday at 3.40pm for abetting the offence. It is understood that he is Chew Eng Han's brother. He may be jailed between six months and two years, and fined up to S$6,000 if found guilty.
Church founder Kong Hee, 52; deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, 44; former finance manager Serina Wee, 40; former finance committee member John Lam, 49; and former finance manager Sharon Tan, 41, started their respective jail terms on Apr 21 last year.
Chew, who was also supposed to start his jail term on that day, asked the court to defer his sentence until after a Court of Appeal case brought by the prosecution to clarify the law under which the six of them were convicted.
The High Court granted Chew, who was representing himself, the deferment so he would have time to conduct research and access the resources to conduct his own defence.
Chew also tried on two occasions to challenge his conviction.
The apex court rejected his first attempt last July after his effort of referring nearly 60 questions did not meet the required threshold. In September, the apex court threw out his second.
And when the Court of Appeal earlier this month upheld the High Court’s decision to convict the six of less serious criminal breach of trust charges, Chew asked to defer his sentence for one last time to spend Chinese New Year with his family.
When asked if Chew had his passport at the time of arrest, Police Coast Guard commander Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SAC) Hsu Sin Yun said: "For investigative matters I will not be able to comment too much at this point of time."
SINGAPORE - Former City Harvest Church (CHC) fund manager Chew Eng Han, convicted of misusing church funds, was nabbed at sea on Wednesday morning (Feb 21) trying to leave Singapore by boat.
Chew, 57, was due to begin his jail term of three years and four months from Thursday for his role in the largest case of misuse of charitable funds in Singapore's history.
Chew was arrested along with another man, 53-year-old Tan Poh Teck, at 8.47am on board a motorised sampan, said the police at a briefing on Wednesday afternoon at the Loyang Police Coast Guard Base, giving details of the arrest. Tan was piloting the sampan.
The Straits Times understands that preliminary investigations revealed that, when questioned, Chew and Tan claimed that they had been fishing.
But based on information received earlier, the police established that the two men were trying to leave Singapore illegally from Pulau Ubin to Malaysia. They were also not doing anything on the boat to indicate they were fishing.
Chew, who is married with two children aged 17 and 27, was found with about $5,000 in cash and fishing equipment.
Both men were arrested for “Attempting to leave Singapore unlawfully at Unauthorised Point of Departure” under the Immigration Act (Chapter 133).
Chew Eng Han was caught in a motorised sampan (above) while trying to flee Singapore, on Feb 21, 2018. ST PHOTO: TAN TAM MEI
Those found guilty of this offence could face a maximum fine of $2,000 or a maximum jail term of six months, or both.
At about 3.40pm on Wednesday, the police also arrested a Chew Eng Soon, 61, for abetting the offence. Those convicted of abetting an offence can face a maximum fine of $6,000 and a maximum jail term of two years.
The Straits Times understands that the two Chews are brothers.
At Chew Eng Han's condominium home located in Upper East Coast, his wife told The Straits Times that she didn't know what had happened and that the police had not contacted her yet.
Senior Assistant Commissioner Hsu Sin Yun, Police Coast Guard (PCG) commander, said at the briefing that it had received information about Chew's plan to flee and deployed three boats to intercept the motorised sampan.
They were intercepted about 2.4km eastwards from the Pulau Ubin main jetty – where Chew had boarded the boat.
ST understands that Chew had travelled to Pulau Ubin on his own before meeting with the sampan operator at the jetty. The operator does not ply the route between mainland Singapore and the Ubin island regularly.
SAC Hsu described the arrest "as yet another testament and commitment to PCG's mission, which is to prevent, deter and detect crime in the Singapore waters".
He added that the PCG would continue to safeguard Singapore waters and sea borders against crime and security threats, including unauthorised entry into and departure from Singapore.
Chew is being held in lock-up at the Police Cantonment Complex and will be charged on Thursday morning along with the boatman Tan.
While CHC founder Kong Hee and four other former leaders started their sentences in April after the High Court cut their jail terms for misusing millions in church funds, Chew has been on bail as he sought multiple deferments pending the Court of Appeal's final decision.
Even after his jail term - which was reduced from six years - was upheld by the Court of Appeal on Feb 1, he asked to defer the start of his sentence till after the Chinese New Year.
Fishing gear, handphones and cash were among the items confiscated.
ST PHOTO: TAN TAM MEI
He was ordered to surrender to the State Courts on Thursday (Feb 22).
Unlike in the United States and Britain, the act of absconding is not a separate criminal offence in Singapore, say lawyers.
However, when an accused person jumps bail, the bail money will be usually forfeited unless the bailor is able to convince the court otherwise.
It is unclear how much bail Chew posted but Chew and four other CHC leaders - except for Kong - were on bail ranging from $750,000 to $1 million.
Chew was previously the church board's vice-president and treasurer.
He served on the finance committee from 2006 to 2007, and is one of two principal shareholders of investment firm Amac Capital Partners. He left the board after Amac was appointed as the church's fund manager.
He was also a director of music production company Xtron Productions from 2003 to 2004.
The six CHC leaders had channelled $24 million from the church's building fund into Xtron and glass maker Firna in the form of sham bonds, to fund the popstar career of Kong's wife, Ms Ho Yeow Sun, in a church mission known as the Crossover Project. They then misused a further $26 million to cover up the misdeed.
Chew was a church member since 1995 and cut all ties with the church in 2013, later telling the court that one reason for his parting ways was that Kong "deceived the people closest to (him)".
The church filed a civil suit against Amac and Chew for almost $21 million in unreturned investments. Chew is no longer contesting the suit.
When he took the stand during the long-running trial in 2015, Chew, who conducted his own defence, said he was responsible for the structuring of the financial instrument but not the usage of the proceeds.
He told the court that if any funds had been misused as alleged, the blame lay with other church leaders who had discretion over how the money was spent.
He cited e-mails and mobile text messages to establish that Kong, deputy senior pastor Tan Ye Peng, and former finance manager Serina Wee were the key decision makers of the allocation of money.
Chew also told the court that he and his family had donated $1 million to the church.
"I'm not a taker to the church. I'm a giver, and thieves don't give to the owners of the property," he had said.
The sixth former City Harvest Church leader has been arrested for attempting to escape Singapore in a motorised sampan.
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Slated to start jail term the next day
Fund manager Chew Eng Han was arrested on Wednesday morning, Feb. 21, the police said at a news conference.
The 57-year-old was due to turn himself in the next day to begin his jail term.
Intercepted by coast guard
The Police Coast Guard intercepted the motorised sampan off Pulau Ubin at about 8.47am.
About S$5,000 and fishing equipment was found on the boat.
Jail term should have started in April 2017
The five other leaders had started their respective jail terms on April 21, 2017.
Chew is the only one of the six who has not started serving his jail term for criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts.
Deferred jail term repeatedly
Chew deferred his sentence initially until after a Court of Appeal case brought by the prosecution to clarify the law under which the six of them were convicted.
The High Court granted Chew, who was representing himself, the deferment. This was so he would have time to conduct research and access the resources to conduct his own defence.
Chew had tried to challenge his conviction on two occasions.
In July, the apex court rejected his first attempt. His effort of referring nearly 60 questions failed to meet the required threshold.
The apex court threw out his second appeal in September.
And when the Court of Appeal earlier this month upheld the High Court’s decision to convict the six of less serious criminal breach of trust charges, Chew asked to defer his sentence for one last time to spend Chinese New Year with his family.
He had his original six-year jail sentence lowered to three years and four months.
He is one of six church leaders convicted in 2015 of misappropriating S$50 million of church funds.
