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Meet the woman who hopes to bring healing to Catholic sex abuse victims in France. Contribute Get Rewarded. Contact Us: [email protected]. South Asia. Sri Lanka. Social Justice. Overcoming Inequality. Southeast Asia. East Timor. East Asia. South Korea. Hong Kong. Video Stories. Catholic Dioceses in Asia. Our Voices. About us. Mr Kong was released about two years and four months after he began his jail term. Inmates are usually given one-third remission on their sentence for good behaviour.
The six of them were originally charged and convicted of criminal breach of trust as agents under Section of the Penal Code in after a day trial. However, his jail term was extended by 13 months after he tried to flee the country.
He will be the last to complete his sentence. It had about 16, church members last year and was among the top 10 richest charities by donations here. Join ST's Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused.
Until we resolve the issues, subscribers need not log in to access ST Digital articles. We are still here. Throughout these past five years, we see them still attending church. Still helping out.
Still serving. We see them stand and worship God every weekend, many times with tears streaming down their faces. We sincerely ask for leniency on their sentencing. For the sake of their young children, we appeal for them to be spared jail terms. Mr Kenneth Tan, lawyer for Lam, said his client's involvement was not as extensive as the other five leaders. He was far less culpable as he was just a volunteer who failed to inquire about the questionable use of church funds because of ingrained and misplaced trust in Kong.
Mr Andre Maniam, Serina Wee's lawyer, described his client as a follower who "started out as a girl doing accounts". Wee was not entrusted with any funds and was not on the board at the time of the criminal breach of trust charge. She was also never a pastor, Mr Maniam said.
Wee's role was to provide administrative support "with limited involvement". He added that the job in the church's accounts department was Wee's first job - she had no prior experience in the private sector.
Church was Wee's life - in terms of family job, and faith - at a point in time when she was relatively young and inexperienced. There was no evidence of wrongful gain and no permanent loss in funds was intended, Mr Maniam said. Wee and the other five church leaders are not innately bad people, Mr Maniam concluded as he pleaded for leniency on behalf of his client.
In response, Deputy Public Prosecutor Christopher Ong listed four aggravating factors in the case, chief among them the fact that CHC - as a large registry entrusted with millions in members' donations - had betrayed public trust and the trust of its donors. The prosecution also found that the offences committed were "premeditated and carefully planned", and they were subsequently covered up with numerous cunning deceptions to avoid detection.
DPP Ong went on to refute the mitigating factors put forth by the defence, stating that the good character of the six accused was not relevant in this case given the seriousness of the offences. The argument that no personal gain was made and that the church did not suffer any losses also does not apply, he added.
On Kong's claim that he was remorseful, DPP Ong said Kong had not actually apologised for his role in the offences, and a confession letter he had tendered was filled with excuses in an attempt to shirk responsibility. In the weeks following the verdict on Oct 21, both the defence and prosecution have handed to the court their written submissions on sentencing.
The defence has told the court repeatedly that the church suffered no loss and the six had not profited from their crimes. Join ST's Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. We have been experiencing some problems with subscriber log-ins and apologise for the inconvenience caused. Until we resolve the issues, subscribers need not log in to access ST Digital articles. But a log-in is still required for our PDFs. Skip to main content.
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