Financial Corruption

1. In the introduction to this article I stated that 25% of donations to The Westminster Tradition, declared in the yearly financial summaries (2006-2017), disappeared without trace. All the relevant documents are submitted above. The earliest financial report (Summary of Income and Expenses from 2007 to 2008) is unusual because the balance from 2006 is carried forward to 2007 (click here to jump directly to that statement). Despite the balance from 2006 being declared ($67,716.36) and brought forward, the accounting was nevertheless still incorrect. With a balance in 2006 of $67,716.36 and a surplus in 2007 of $50,018.36, the new balance in 2007 becomes $117,734.72 (as documented). However, with a further surplus of $154,602.33 in 2008, the updated balance should be $272,337.05 and not $204,620.69. Voila – $67,716.72 has just disappeared! Either this demonstrates extraordinary ineptitude by four treasurers (Rebekah Swee, Phoebe Job, Claudia Ng and Zipporah Lee), or it demonstrates a deliberate attempt to embezzle $67,716.36 from the Westminster Reformed Church accounts! From 2009, no balance is ever brought forward and we are presented instead with a simple surplus/deficit figure. The fact that the surplus is accruing from year to year is never alluded to: the money simply disappears from the accounts. The consecutive statements published above make it possible to calculate that $901,616.87 (representing 25% of the total donations of $3,551,787.84 during that period) have been quietly creamed off. The interest on this ‘forgotten’ balance would be >$15,000/yr if it were to be applied at a rate of 1.7%. Compound interest on the balance is never declared on the financial statements.

2. To understand the financial irregularities (and illegalities) better, it is necessary to run through a little history. The Westminster Tradition was set up in 1992 as the publishing wing of Elijah Chacko’s Westminster Memorial Reformed Church in Singapore. This church was first called ‘Biblical Church of Yishun‘, later renamed to ‘Westminster Memorial Reformed Church‘ in 1990/91 and further changed to ‘Westminster Reformed Church‘ in 1994/95. The Westminster Tradition was thus incorporated as a partnership, the two named partners being Elijah Thomas Chacko and Abraham Chia Kok Soon. The company’s registered office address belongs to Abraham’s brother, Enoch Chia. It is his present home address in Singapore (Trellis Towers). The Westminster Tradition’s business activities are registered as being ‘other publishing activities (e.g. publishing of photos, posters, greeting cards) and ‘libraries and archives activities’. For the official business profile, click here. For the register of business/company documents, click here. The treasurers have historically been Elijah’s wife, Deborah Thomas (née Chan) and Phinehas’ wife, Faith Yeoh (née Yeap). [Deborah has a Bachelor of Accountancy and taught  ‘Principle of Accounting’ at the Mayflower Secondary School for many years. Faith works as an auditor in Singapore for the Japanese company, Mizuho Financial Group.] The Singapore government does not require small business partnerships to file audited accounts with the IRAS (Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore).

3. Nowadays this publishing wing is merely a front. Its financial throughput is meagre but above board. If the Singapore authorities were to investigate, there would be little to find. But what has actually happened is that Elijah Chacko’s unconstituted and unregistered church called (until 2009), ‘Westminster Reformed Church’ has appropriated the name ‘The Westminster Tradition’. [From this point on the terms ‘Westminster Tradition (actual)’ and ‘Westminster Tradition (front)’ will be used where appropriate]. This metamorphosis from the church ‘Westminster Reformed Church‘ to the ministry ‘The Westminster Tradition‘ has been gradual. It was seen in the financial statements as early as 2009, but the receipt books and other stationary may have taken until 2015 to catch up (click here to see evidence of change in stationary). Two receipts are shown  in the above link. The first receipt (dated 26/05/16, for tithes of £2000) is from the Westminster Reformed Church. The second receipt (dated 15/08/15, for a love offering of $35,595.45 to the Nepali brethren affected by severe earthquakes) has a Westminster Tradition header. [Note that the parsonage address has shifted from the late Mr Elijah Thomas Chacko’s home address in Yishun, Singapore to that of a property in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. This is further evidence that this ‘Westminster Tradition’ (actual) is NOT the Singapore-registered publishing wing.] Both donations were transferred at the request of the treasurer, Rebekah Swee Siew Yang, into her private OCBC bank account (click here) in Singapore. The larger donation had nothing to do with The Westminster Tradition’s official publishing activities or libraries and archives activities. It had everything to do with Elijah Chacko’s international network of churches, which were planted by means of international missionary efforts and whose members zealously desire to assist him in ‘restoring all things’. This ministry, The Westminster Tradition (actual), has never been properly constituted, has no trustees, no official accounts and is supposed to be invisible to the state. To remain under the radar, almost all the money is routed through the bank accounts of individual members like Rebekah Swee. As such, the money is not subject to audit and no official paperwork need ever be submitted. Receipts are issued in order to make the accounting process appear legitimate. All the documents shown here in substantiation of this author’s allegations, were intended only for internal circulation. Many members do not receive copies. The few copies which do go out are hand distributed (rather than postal or electronic mail) to those with bigger purses. These statements are very sensitive for reasons which this article makes clear. Elijah Chacko did not want the authorities to know that he was running an international organisation that has processed millions of dollars in the years 2006-2017 alone.

4. To reiterate, The Westminster Tradition has two sets of accounts. The official accounts are submitted to the Singapore government by the legitimate front organisation. The second and much more substantial accounts relating to TWT (actual) are hidden from the authorities, but made to look as official as possible in order to allay members’ suspicions.

5. In 2011, a ‘Global Gospel Mission Fund’ (GGMF) was set up. The 2014 treasurers’ report says (click here for document): ‘Contribution for the Global Gospel Mission Fund came from churches throughout the 127 provinces‘ (i.e. world). In the first paragraph of that same report, The Westminster Tradition (actual) is called ‘our ministry‘. It was receiving funds from Singapore, Australia, UK, Malaysia, China, India and the Philippines. Since none of this officially exists, how was $180,918 (the total 2014 Cash Inflow) actually deposited into the GGMF? Almost all members are encouraged to give cash donations. If those members live overseas, they are brought opportunistically into Singapore or Malaysia during conference seasons. It is for this reason that foreign currency exchange rates are included underneath the 2009 and 2010 Westminster Tradition statements. [If the money were paid in by cheque or bank transfer, rates would be applied automatically by the respective bank and there would be little need to publish exchange rates as the incoming money would all be in one currency.] I propose that these cash donations were deposited in an array of bank accounts belonging to private individuals so as to minimise tax liabilities and government scrutiny. The cash may also have been stockpiled in order to buy assets. Between 2008 and 2015, interest rates in Singapore were rock-bottom and so depositing the cash into bank accounts would have increased financial exposure without much monetary gain. A few individuals such as myself were encouraged to pay by international transfer to a bank in Singapore. This may have been in order to allay any fears we had about how The Westminster Tradition managed their finances.

6. It was personally advantageous for Elijah Chacko to run things this way. Firstly, since  The Westminster Tradition (actual) doesn’t officially exist, Elijah Chacko had a free hand to run things entirely as he wished. Yearly financial statements were prepared in order to convey an appearance of legitimacy to members of The Westminster Tradition. These statements were just ink on paper. They revealed nothing about what goes on under the surface – the true movement of money from place to place. There is no way of even knowing whether the figures are genuine or fabricated. It’s possible that many of the donations remained undeclared (i.e. receipts were issued but the money never appeared on the accounts.) Elijah Chacko, as always, ensured that he alone had the complete picture. Take as an example the Overseas Mission Work expense in 2009. The records show that in 2008 and 2010, overseas mission work ate up just under $60,000/yr. But in 2009, this figure sky-rocketed to $320,236! This amounted to 123% of that year’s cash inflow. In the commentary, Hannah Grace (Elijah’s dutiful daughter) reported that it was a ‘mere reflection of our long-term investment (especially in Nepal and the Philippines) and vision for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Moreover, we had to fund the increasing frequent overseas trips made by the missionaries so as to nurture the sapling churches…‘ Well, the increase in costs wasn’t caused by the missionaries making more frequent trips. They lived on a shoe-string as this author can bear first-hand witness to, and anyhow, the only thing the missionaries were permitted to claim was transportation – and that came under another budget! As for it being ‘a reflection of our long-term investment and vision for the advancement of the Kingdom of God‘, well that’s a little vague isn’t it? What was being invested in? How could the ministry’s entire yearly budget (and more) be consumed without even a breakdown of expenditure being provided? $300,000 goes a long, long way in both Nepal and the Philippines! In 2009, the average GPD per capita in the Philippines and Nepal was $2,500 (SGD). To put it in context, $300,000 represents the combined yearly income of 120 Nepalis/Filipinos! It would also procure some very substantial real-estate.

6. Since The Westminster Tradition (actual) doesn’t officially exist, how is it to buy up land or properties? Most charities would appoint accountable trustees who would hold the title deed on behalf of the organisation. But Elijah Chacko enjoyed such a degree of uncontested control that he had been able to use Westminster Tradition (actual) funds in order to purchase properties in his own name. Elijah Chacko had a portfolio consisting of properties in at least five different countries. They belonged to him (and now perhaps his next of kin) because legally The Westminster Tradition (actual) doesn’t exist. Morally, he also claimed (in private) that they belonged to him. If it wasn’t for him, he said, everybody would still have been in their dung-heaps.

7. But aren’t there a number of treasurers to ensure that everything is being administered correctly? Don’t these treasurers include trained accountants such as Pauline Soh and Hephzibah Chai as well as a generous complement of other capable persons such as Rebekah Swee, Phoebe Job, Claudia Ng, Zipporah Lee and Theophilus Ong? How could Elijah Chacko have hoped to get away with anything whilst so many eyes were watching him? The answer is simple. He controlled these people. They were all appointed by him and would do what they were told, even if that involved cooking the books. None of them had the courage to call him out and challenge him about his use of funds. Rather than dirtying his own hands, Elijah sent his treasurers to do his bidding.

The report below was prepared by a Fellow Chartered Accountant in the UK based on the records published earlier in this article.

Elijah Thomas Chacko shrouded his financial dealings with secrecy and therefore it is not easy to explain every financial anomaly. It is also possible that despite meticulous research, some of the facts have been wrongly interpreted, in which case I invite any of Elijah Chacko’s representatives or family to post their comments or suggested amendments below (adhering to the Rules of Posting, please).