Defense lawyer showed that the auditors had information concerning the Bond Subscription Agreement and had no issues with it as of April 2008.
CN FILE PHOTO.
Senior counsel Kannan Ramesh, defense lawyer for Sharon Tan, showed in court today that Anne Lee from Baker Tilly had received information concerning the Bond Subscription Agreement five days after it was signed. This happened before the audit for Xtron financial year 2006 was concluded. However, the prosecution’s 14th witness Foong Ai Fang claimed she did not see the document until 2008.
Foong was the audit manager in charge of the City Harvest Church and Xtron accounts. She later agreed with Ramesh that she knew that the funds received from the BSA would go to the production and marketing of a music album by Apr. 11, 2006, but claimed that she was not aware that these were for Sun Ho’s album.
She also agreed that as of April 13, 2008, she was satisfied with the bond transaction. The only concern she had was about the fair value issue, she said, but later changed her answer to include the repayment of bonds. Ramesh then produced a document titled Outstanding Matters And Clearance for FY 2007 which showed no outstanding issues with regards to the bonds.
Ramesh also produced documents to demonstrate that Baker Tilly auditors had been aware of the expenses for the Crossover Project since the FY 2002 CHC audit. The 2003 special audit showed that Baker Tilly was aware of the sensitivity of the use of church funds, but had no problem with it when it was done through bonds.
The defense lawyer also produced emails earlier this morning to show that Foong Daw Ching, the then-managing partner of Baker Tilly, had been involved in CHC’s account and had several discussions with representatives from CHC. The emails showed that Foong Daw Ching had been advising the church on many issues including the drawing up of the investment policy. This was contrary to the witness’s claim that he was not involved since he was not the engagement partner. Foong Ai Fang also claimed that she had no knowledge of any discussions between the accused and him.
Court resumed at 2.15pm.
