Kong Hee no longer stays in Sentosa penthouse, rents terrace house for an estimated S$12K monthly

The founder of City Harvest Church (CHC), Kong Hee, and his family are no longer living in his Sentosa Cove penthouse since being released from prison on Thursday (Aug 22) after serving about two-thirds of his three-and-a-half years’ jail sentence for his role in misappropriating S$50 million of church funds.

Kong and Indonesian tycoon Wahju Hanafi bought The Oceanfront apartment for S$9.33 million in 2007. The monthly installment each of them paid was S$17,000. The 5,242 sq ft duplex unit is on the 11th floor.

Following his release from jail, Kong Hee and his family, including wife Ho Yeow Sun, commonly known as Sun Ho, now live in a three-storey terrace house in Upper Bukit Timah.

According to public records from the Singapore Land Authority, the house Kong Hee resides in sits on a 263 sq m plot and is owned by real estate firm Lucky Realty.

The house comes with a swimming pool, five bedrooms, a helper’s room, a lift and a roof terrace.

A 2018 listing indicated a monthly rental of S$12,000 for the property.

City Harvest Church has also decided to cease pursuing the repayment of S$26.5 million from its former fund manager Chew Eng Han and his investment firm AMAC Capital Partners.

The church made a collective decision to stop all efforts to recover the sum, which means that it will also give up all rights to the money.

This decision was reached after the church called for an extraordinary general meeting on July 23 for executive members of the church to vote on the issue.

Kong Hee had received a jail term along with five other church leaders: Sharon Tan, John Lam, Serina Wee, Tan Ye Peng and Chew Eng Han.

All have been released from prison except for Chew, who received an additional term after trying unsuccessfully to flee the country on a sampan. /TISG