Singapore: 32 Million Euros embezzled by a Protestant Sect

The founder of one the most important Evangelical churches in Singapore, the City Harvest Church and five of his collaborators were declared guilty of abuse of trust and forging accounts on October 21, 2015. In all, 32 million euros were embezzled in order to finance the musical career and way of life of the founder's spouse.

Founded in 1989 with a community of about 20 members, the City Harvest Church became one of the city-state's most important Evangelical churches in just a couple of years. The foreign missions agency Eglise d'Asia (EDA) published on October 27 that "reverend" Kong Hee, a young man with a degree in computer science who became a charismatic pastor, sought to "announce the Gospel to the modern world" with giant ceremonies worthy of rock concerts. The sect had over 30,000 members at its peak in the early 2000's.

After the faithful filed a complaint, the local authorities opened an investigation in 2010. The scandal broke two years later with the arrest of the movement's main leaders. The six defendants could face up to 20 years in prison.

(sources: apic/eda - DICI no.324 dated November 6, 2015)