Ex-church leader Chew Eng Han jailed for 13 months over failed bid to leave Singapore illegally

SINGAPORE - Former City Harvest Church (CHC) leader Chew Eng Han was sentenced on Tuesday (Jan 29) to 13 months' jail after attempting to leave Singapore unlawfully.

He will serve it after completing his earlier sentence of three years and four months' jail for his role in the misuse of church funds.

Chew, 58, was convicted in December last year of attempting to leave Singapore illegally from an unauthorised point of departure.

District Judge Victor Yeo also found him guilty of attempting to defeat the course of justice by boarding a motorised boat at the Pulau Ubin jetty on Feb 21, last year to try to avoid his earlier jail sentence.

Chew had committed the offences a day before he was to begin serving his jail term for his part in the misuse of church funds.

Five other CHC leaders who were also convicted of misusing church funds - including founder and pastor Kong Hee - began serving their terms in April 2017.

Chew admitted during investigations that he wanted to leave Singapore as he "felt injustice for (his) High Court case", Deputy Public Prosecutors Christopher Ong and Eugene Sng had stated earlier.

He also said he wanted to leave the country "through (his) own means" as he did "not want to be convicted".

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The escape plan involved a two-leg journey, according to the prosecutors.

"On the first leg, the accused would get on a boat in the vicinity of Changi. This boat was to travel towards four fish farms... in Singapore waters in the north-east part of Pulau Ubin, close to the boundary between Singapore and Malaysian waters," they said.

After that, at a place referred to as "Point B", Chew was to embark on the second leg by transferring to a second boat, which would take him out of Singapore waters.

Point B was less than a minute by boat from the boundary between Singapore and Malaysian territorial waters, the court heard. Chew was caught before he reached Point B.

The prosecutors said that by getting on the boat at the Pulau Ubin jetty, Chew had "embarked on the crime proper" to leave Singapore at an unauthorised place.

They said: "The accused had done everything he could to leave Singapore at an unauthorised place, short of embarking onto the second boat. It was only because the boat was intercepted by the PCG (Police Coast Guard) that he failed in his endeavour to leave Singapore illegally."

But defence lawyer Adrian Wee had told Judge Yeo that Chew had been "apprehended too soon".

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He said: "The accused's acts up to the point of his arrest... do not amount to embarking on the crime proper - such crime being leaving Singapore from Point B."

Last March, Chew started serving his earlier sentence for misuse of church funds.

Three people linked to his escape bid were dealt with in court last year.

Singaporean fish farm owner Tan Poh Teck, 53, was sentenced to 27 weeks' jail. Two Malaysian men - private tour guide Tan Kim Ho, 42, and freelance driver Khoo Kea Leng, 45 - were each sentenced to six months' jail.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.