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City Harvest Church Trial: I have not seen the documents, says trustee
Netizens weigh in on Wee's looks and court outfits
Police arrest 200 in blitz against loan sharking

City Harvest Church Trial: I have not seen the documents, says trustee

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A trustee of the City Harvest Church responsible for managing its assets said that he had not seen several documents related to the church's investments.

This, however, was not unusual as the trustees had given an investment firm the power to negotiate and sign agreements on their behalf, he said.

The documents were related to financial transactions which are at the heart of the ongoing criminal trial against church founder Kong Hee and five of his deputies.

The six were charged last year with conspiring to cheat the megachurch of about S$50mil (RM130mil) in total. S$24mil (RM62mil) was allegedly misused to finance Kong's wife Ho Yeow Sun's music career, and another S$26mil (RM67mil) purportedly taken to cover this up.

Jeffrey Cheong (pic), a founding member of the church who is now one of its three trustees, said he would have been briefed on other documents about investments at the time he signed them, but he could not recall what he had been told.

Among the documents shown in court yesterday which he had not seen was an letter from John Lam Leng Hung, one of the accused, to the owners of glassware manufacturer Firna. The church had agreed to invest up to S$24.5mil (RM64mil) in Firna bonds, although only S$11mil (RM28mil) was given to the firm.

Part of the contract allowed the church to convert the bonds to shares in the company. However, if this was ever done, City Harvest would sell the shares back to the company at just US$1 (RM3.3), Lam promised in the letter. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Netizens weigh in on Wee's looks and court outfits

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While there are six people involved in the alleged embezzlement of over S$50mil (RM130mil) worth of funds in the City Harvest Church (CHC) trial, one woman is standing out – not for her testimonies, but more for her sense of style.

Over the past few days, Netizens have expressed various reactions over the way Serina Wee, former finance manager of CHC, is carrying herself amid the court hearings.

An Aug 29 post on dropdeadgorgeous.org says Wee should be spared from too much pressure. "Give her a break man. She needs to stay Pretty, Elegant and Drop Dead Gorgeous!"

There is also a Serina Wee Facebook page, which describes her as a public figure and a goddess. It currently has over 370 likes. In one of the posts on the page, Facebook user Favored Cenizal says "this kind of looks can earn more money in other ways rather than being accountant in CHC". — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Police arrest 200 in blitz against loan sharking

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Police have arrested 200 suspects for suspected loan sharking activities after an islandwide anti-loan sharking operation that took place over 69 hours from Monday to Thursday.

The 140 men and 60 women were aged between 19 and 74. They were nabbed after officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and six land divisions conducted simultaneous raids at multiple locations in Singapore.

Of the 200 suspects, three will be charged in court under the Moneylenders Act. Investigations against the remaining suspects are ongoing. Separately, another 67 people will also be charged for their involvement in loan sharking activities as runners and bank account holders. They were arrested in previous anti-loan sharking operations conducted by the police.

Said CID Deputy Director and Assistant Commissioner of Police Florence Chua: "By surrendering bank accounts to loan shark syndicates, or by assisting them to transfer money or to carry out harassment acts, these perpetrators are actually helping the syndicates to evade police detection. Police will continue to clamp down hard on all these perpetrators and bring them to justice." — The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Sabtu, 31 Ogos 2013