Ex-City Harvest fund manager charged over alleged escape bid

Chew Eng Han leaving the State Courts in a police van yesterday. Boatman Tan Poh Teck was charged with abetting him. The two men each faced a holding charge under the Immigration Act, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Zhongshan.
Chew Eng Han leaving the State Courts in a police van yesterday. Boatman Tan Poh Teck was charged with abetting him. The two men each faced a holding charge under the Immigration Act, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Zhongshan.

Former City Harvest Church fund manager Chew Eng Han, 57, who was to have started his sentence yesterday for misuse of church funds, was charged in court instead for leaving Singapore unlawfully. He had been arrested at sea off Pulau Ubin by the Police Coast Guard on Wednesday morning.

Boatman Tan Poh Teck, 53, was also charged yesterday with abetting Chew. He had conveyed Chew on a motorised boat from Pulau Ubin Jetty - which is a not an authorised place of embarkation, departing point or point of departure - with the intent of taking him to Malaysia. Chew and Tan each faced a holding charge under the Immigration Act, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Zhongshan.

Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said the police did "exceptionally well" in Chew's case, though it should not be the force's primary role to prevent people from jumping bail.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 23, 2018, with the headline Ex-City Harvest fund manager charged over alleged escape bid. Subscribe