Defense lawyer sought to show that auditors had all the relevant information for a comprehensive examination of the proper use of building fund.
CN PHOTOS: Daniel Poh.
This morning session saw senior counsel Kannan Ramesh, defense lawyer to Sharon Tan, seeking to establish that on the contrary to Tiang’s previous evidence that her line of questioning that pertains to the use of building fund for investing into the Xtron bonds was preliminary, evidence showed that there seemed to be comprehensive examination of the proper use of building fund.
Kannan produced emails that showed Tiang requested Foong Aifang, the then audit manager, to gather all the relevant information regarding the use of building fund. This included the investment policy, the church constitution, audit working paper, source document from clients and donation letters that had been reviewed.
The emails also showed that Serina Wee had given the auditors all relevant information and even asked if they needed anything else.
The defense lawyer also suggested that Tiang was in fact very concerned over the use of building fund–whether the withdrawals from the building fund were proper and authorized. He questioned her level of concern on the use of building fund to invest, stating that she asked very specific questions.
Tiang, however, maintained that the questions were all part of the standard audit procedure and she was not particularly “troubled” by the use of building fund.
When the defense lawyer pointed out that if she had any suspicion at that point in time, she would have probed further, Tiang conceded this point.
Kannan also pointed out that the defendants was also very urgent in meeting Foong Daw Ching, the then managing partner of Baker Tilly and produced information on the relationship between CHC, Xtron and AMAC Capital.
Tiang, however, said that this information was not passed on to her, the engagement partner, even when she met him and several other senior partners to discuss issues with regards to the use of building fund.
To the defense lawyer, it was “strange” that Foong had kept silent about these information that were significant to the audits.
Kannan also questioned Tiang on the need to seek advice from the senior partners on the use of building fund. He suggested to her that it was in fact a risk committee meeting convened to resolve issues that she raised.
中文报道: CHC审讯：针对建堂基金使用进行的审查并非初步
