Christian Post rewards,
Embattled Megachurch Pastor Kong Hee Selling $10 Million ‘Lavish and Opulent’ Penthouse; Kong Calls Report ‘Misleading and Exaggerated’
City Harvest Church pastor Kong Hee has put up for sale a co-owned $10 million luxury penthouse in Sentosa Cove, Singapore, amid an ongoing trial concerning the possible misuse of over $19 million in church funds to finance his wife’s music career. Kong has hit back against a report describing the penthouse, calling it “misleading and exaggerated.”
Kong explained that his family has sold other properties as well to help pay their attorneys’ fees.”The property that my family and I have been living in is co-owned with another family. We have been living at this property with the co-owner’s kind permission after we had to sell our properties in order to pay the legal expenses for the ongoing trial,” the pastor said in a Facebook post, responding to a Straits Times article from earlier this week.
He also clarified that the families have been trying to sell the property for some time.
According to the ST report, an anonymous investor who has visited the penthouse described it as “lavish and opulent.”
The investor said: “The home is decorated with quality furniture and top of the range equipment. It gives me the impression that the owner sure knows how to enjoy the high life.”
The 5,242 sqare foot duplex reportedly has ‘giant crystal light fixtures and works of art,’ a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi, a roof terrace with a large pool, and a number of other luxuries.
Kong responded, however, that the investor is using “superlative terms to describe the property,” and is “implying that its furnishings are grand and luxurious.”
“I don’t know the intentions and motives of this ‘investor,’ but my family and I would respectfully disagree with what he is trying to suggest,” Kong asserted.
“There is no denying that we are blessed and privileged to be staying at Sentosa Cove. However, we are under no illusion that this is only our temporary home, until the property is sold. The article has given the impression that this unit was only just put up for sale. In reality, the co-owner and I have been trying to sell this property for some time.”
The CHC pastor also denied suggestions that he and his family are enjoying the “high life,” alluding to what they have been through in the past five years.
Kong and five other CHC members are currently on trial facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted of having misused $19.2 million in church funds on the pop music career of Sun Ho, the pastor’s wife.
Prosecutors are accusing the CHC members of funneling money into Ho’s career through sham bond investing into a management company called Xtron. Kong has denied participating in such a scheme, however, and has said that church support for the Crossover project, which funds Ho’s music tours, is part of its mission to spread the Gospel and increase CHC’s presence.
Source: By Stoyan Zaimov, Embattled Megachurch Pastor Kong Hee Selling $10 Million ‘Lavish and Opulent’ Penthouse; Kong Calls Report ‘Misleading and Exaggerated’, Christian Post, http://www.christianpost.com/news/embattled-megachurch-pastor-kong-hee-selling-10-million-lavish-and-opulent-penthouse-kong-calls-report-misleading-and-exaggerated-141135/, Published 03/07/2015. (Accessed 05/07/2015.)
The Gospel Herald reports,
Pastor Kong Hee Claims He Is Not ‘Living the High Life’ Amid Reports of ‘Lavish’ $10 Million Dollar Penthouse
Pastor Kong Hee pictured with his wife, Sun Ho.
City Harvest Church pastor Kong Hee, who is currently embroiled in an ongoing trial concerning the possible misuse of over $19 million in church funds to finance his popstar wife’s career, has claimed he is “not living the high life” despite reports that he is selling his co-owned $10 million luxury penthouse in Sentosa Cove, Singapore.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Kong, 50, said earlier reports describing his penthouse as “lavish and opulent” were both “misleading and exaggerated.” He also clarified that his family has sold other properties as well to help pay their attorneys’ fees.
“I was surprised and saddened by the contents of the article because significant portions of it are misleading and exaggerated,” he wrote in the post, which was published in response to a Straits Times article from earlier this week.
“The property that my family and I have been living in is co-owned with another family. We have been living at this property with the co-owner’s kind permission after we had to sell our properties in order to pay the legal expenses for the ongoing trial,” the pastor continued.
According to the report, an anonymous investor who visited the penthouse described it as “lavish and opulent” and said it gives one “the impression that the owner sure knows how to enjoy the high life.”
The report also described the 5,242 square foot duplex as having a ‘giant crystal light fixtures and works of art,’ a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi, and a roof terrace with a large pool.Kong claimed that the investor used “superlative terms to describe the property,” and is “implying that its furnishings are grand and luxurious.”
“I don’t know the intentions and motives of this ‘investor,’ but my family and I would respectfully disagree with what he is trying to suggest,” Kong continued.
“There is no denying that we are blessed and privileged to be staying at Sentosa Cove. However, we are under no illusion that this is only our temporary home, until the property is sold. The article has given the impression that this unit was only just put up for sale. In reality, the co-owner and I have been trying to sell this property for some time.”
The pastor concluded, “Suffice to say that those who know and are around me, my family and friends, know perfectly well what we have gone through over the past 5 years, and what we continue to go through today can hardly be called ‘the high life’.”
Kong founded City Harvest Church in 1989 with his wife, Sun Ho. The church currently boasts of over 20,000 members, making it one of the largest congregations in Asia. The non-denominational church also conducts 15 worship services, about 800 cell groups and five support fellowships on a weekly basis.
The church’s pastor and five other church members are currently on trial facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted of misusing $19.2 million of church funds to buy sham bonds from two church-linked firms in an attempt to fund the secular music career of Sun Ho.
According to the Washington Times, prosecutors alleged that all six elders in the church are “guilty of a conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust with the building funds.”
However, the church has denied such claims and said monies were returned to church coffers with interest, and no funds were lost.
Kong has previously maintained that while he is innocent of all accusations, City Harvest should continue offering support for Sun’s career, arguing that it helps spread the message of the church to secular groups.
Source: By Leah Marieann Klett, Pastor Kong Hee Claims He Is Not ‘Living the High Life’ Amid Reports of ‘Lavish’ $10 Million Dollar Penthouse, Gospel Herald, http://www.gospelherald.com/articles/56415/20150706/pastor-kong-hee-claims-he-is-not-living-the-high-life-amid-reports-of-lavish-10-million-dollar-penthouse.htm, Published 06/07/2015. (Accessed 08/07/2015.)
Christian Today reports,
Megachurch pastor facing fraud charges hits back over ‘high life’ claims
Reuters
City Harvest Church founder Pastor Kong Hee (2nd from the right) and his wife Sun Ho (2nd from the left). Kong and five other senior members of the church are accused of mismanaging church funds to bankroll Ms Ho’s singing career.
The pastor of one of the largest churches in Asia has hit back at claims that he is living a life of luxury while facing charges of fraud committed against the church.
Kong Hee, pastor Singapore’s City Harvest Church, was the subject of a Straits Times article purporting to describe the interior of a penthouse where he and his family live and which is currently for sale at an asking price of 10 million Singapore dollars (£4.7 million). Kong co-owns the property with an Indonesian businessman, Wahju Hanafi.
The article cites an anonymous “investor” who was shown round the property. It quotes the investor as saying: “The agent tried to persuade me to make an offer and sweetened the deal by saying that if I buy the penthouse, the owner would take me out to sea on his yacht.”
The investor said: “The home is decorated with quality furniture and top of the range equipment. It gives me the impression that the owner sure knows how to enjoy the high life.”
However, Kong said in a statement on Facebook and on the church’s website that the coverage was “misleading and exaggerated”. He said that the apartment was only a “temporary home” for him and his family and that they were “honoured and blessed” to stay there. He denied that they were living a “luxurious life” and said that he had never possessed a yacht.
Kong, who founded the City Harvest Church in 1989 with his his wife Sun Ho, is on trial with five other church members accused of misusing 50 million Singapore dollars (£23,800,000) of church funds to boost Sun Ho’s music career. They have strenuously denied the allegations, saying that all the money raised through a bond scheme was repaid and that the church had lost nothing.
They argue that a music ministry was a legitimate way of helping to spread the gospel among unchurched people – a strategy common in Western churches but far less familiar in the East. The trial, which has lasted for two years, has been adjourned until September when closing submissions will be heard.
Source: By Mark Woods, Megachurch pastor facing fraud charges hits back over ‘high life’ claims, Christian Today, http://www.christiantoday.com/article/megachurch.pastor.facing.fraud.charges.hits.back.over.high.life.claims/58284.htm, Published 07/07/2015. (Accessed 08/07/2015.)
Categories: City Harvest Church
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