The public prosecutor is appealing to reinstate the original convictions of the six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders.

The appeal will be heard in the High Court on Tuesday, Aug. 1.

Sentences cut in half

The leaders were found guilty in 2015 of misappropriating S$50 million of church funds.

They were originally sentenced to jail terms of between eight years and one year and nine months.

However, after all six appealed against their convictions, the High Court convicted them of a reduced charge under section 406 of the Penal Code on April 7.

This was after a split decision.

This resulted in their jail sentences reduced by about half, ranging from three-and-a-half years to seven months.

They were originally convicted of the most aggravated form of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) under section 409 of the Penal Code.

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The last leg of City Harvest Church saga

Criminal breach of trust under section 406 carries a maximum punishment of seven years' jail and a fine.

Section 409 provides for a maximum punishment of life imprisonment or up to 20 years’ jail and a fine.

Out of the six convicted, former fund manager Chew Eng Han, is out on bail pending the outcome of the appeal.

He is representing himself.

The rest have started serving time in prison on April 21.

The prosecution had filed a “criminal reference” in April to the Court of Appeal.

Filing a criminal reference is an avenue to settle a legal conflict, where there are questions of law of public interest arisen with a High Court decision.

In the City Harvest Church case, it is to clarify the law under which the High Court made its decision to cut the jail terms of all six church leaders.

If the public prosecutor’s appeal is successful, the original jail terms of Kong Hee, Serina Wee, Tan Ye Peng, Sharon Tan, John Lam and Chew Eng Hen could be reinstated.

The appeal will be heard by a five-judge panel: Judges of Appeal Andrew Phang and Judith Prakash, and Justices Belinda Ang, Quentin Loh and Chua Lee Ming.

The decision of the Court of Appeal in a criminal reference is final.

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