SINGAPORE — The public prosecutor does not intend to review the sentences of the 15 people currently in jail for criminal breach of trust (CBT) offences under section 409 of the Penal Code, which will be amended in the wake of the City Harvest Church’s (CHC) case.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday (March 19), Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said these individuals comprise of former public servants, an ex-attorney as well as eight insurance and property agents, and their convictions would not be affected by the impending review which concerns senior officers in an organisation who have committed CBT.

Mr Shanmugam was responding to Bukit Batok Member of Parliament Murali Pillai, who asked what the Government will do with regard to those prosecuted under section 409, before the Court of Appeal ruled that the provision could not be applied to the six former CHC leaders, including church founder Kong Hee, as they were not considered “agents”.

Mr Murali also asked if the former church leaders would qualify for home detention. Mr Shanmugam replied that they do not qualify but the Commissioner of Prisons can exercise discretion. “We now have a policy, and if that policy is applied by the Commissioner of Prisons, those convicted in the City Harvest’s case will not qualify for home detention. It’s something that has to be decided by the Commissioner of Prisons, he has got the discretion,” he said.

In its verdict, the apex court had agreed with the High Court’s 2-1 majority ruling last April that an “agent” under Section 409 of the Penal Code (aggravated CBT) does not include directors of corporations, governing board members, key officers of charities or officers of societies. The latest ruling means Section 409 has been wrongly interpreted on some occasions for the past 40 years, with 16 reported cases of directors convicted under the section.

Mr Shanmugam had noted in a ministerial statement last month that these 16 cases “have been convicted properly on the facts and on the law as had been applied by the courts” prior to the Court of Appeal’s recent decision.

In his statement in February, he also said the Government would soon amend the law on CBT following the apex court’s decision to uphold the reduced sentences of six former CHC leaders. Stressing that the Government disagreed with the Court of Appeal’s decision, he had said: “There can really be no question about this… The Government believes that the sentences are too low.”

The high-profile case saw the former church leaders convicted of misusing S$24 million of church building funds on sham bonds between 2007 and 2009, mainly to further the pop music career of church co-founder and Kong’s wife Ho Yeow Sun.

Another S$26.6 million was misused to cover up the first amount.