A megachurch pastor convicted of misusing millions of dollars in donations has escaped a longer jail sentence.
Kong Hee, co-founder of City Harvest Church in Singapore, was originally sentenced to eight years in jail in October 2015 for criminal breach of trust and falsification of accounts. Last April the High Court reduced that sentence to three-and-a-half years but the prosecution appealed and asked for the original sentence to be reinstated.
The Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday that the High Court's verdict of three-and-a-half years would remain.
The Court of Appeal also rejected appeals by prosecutors against the sentencing of four other church leaders, who will continue to serve reduced sentences.
The decision ends nearly five years of legal battles which has gripped the city-state of Singapore where there is little tolerance for corruption and where such cases of fraud mixed with faith have been rare.
Kong was found guilty of misusing S$50 million ($36 million) of church money to fund his wife's musical career. It is the largest amount of charity funds ever misappropriated in Singapore, according to local media. He has also been barred from running a charity ever again.
The once-glamorous founding pastor of City Harvest, known for his electrifying Sunday services, wore purple prison garb for the court appearance, his hair noticeably grayed.
Kong smiled and acknowledged with a wave more than 50 of his supporters, some of whom had waited outside the court from 6am (2200 GMT Wednesday).
City Harvest Church preaches a 'prosperity gospel' that blends spiritual and material aspirations.
Kong's wife, Ho Yeow Sun – known as Sun Ho – is famous for a video of her English-language hit 'China Wine', which shows her dancing intimately with rapper Wyclef Jean.
Defence lawyers argued Sun Ho's music career was used to evangelise. She was not charged in the case.
While megachurches originated in the United States, some of the largest are in Asia, where packaging the traditional biblical message into a more dynamic format of pop music, lively services and social media has lured a new generation of followers and turned the churches into major enterprises.
City Harvest had a congregation of 15,923 and more than 50 affiliations in China, the United States, and seven other countries in 2016, according to its latest annual report.
Additional reporting from Reuters.
