Kong Hee’s Penthouse Sold To Kenyan Diplomat
A Sentosa Cove penthouse co-owned by City Harvest Church (CHC) founder Kong Hee has finally found a new owner.
After languishing on the market for 3 years, the luxurious unit was sold for $7.2 million to a ‘Kenyan diplomat’, according to a Straits Times’ premium article on 2 Sep.
Mr Neal Manilal Chandaria and his family are “in the process of moving in”.
This is definitely good news for Kong Hee, who’s currently serving a 3.5 year reduced jail term for misappropriating millions of church funds.
Luxury penthouse under scrutiny
Spanning 5,242 sq ft – 4.5 times a regular 4-room HDB flat – the 11th floor penthouse at The Oceanfront was sold at a loss of $2 million.
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Kong Hee’s co-owner, Indonesian tycoon Mr Wahju Hanafi, bought it for $9.33 million in 2007.
Both of them paid monthly installments of $17,000 each — about 4 times the average salary of Singaporeans.
A good opportunity, despite its history
Despite knowing the house belonged to Kong Hee, Mr Chandaria found it “a good opportunity“, after viewing it 4 times before buying the flat.
The shift to The Oceanfront, was not a big change for his family, as they already own landed property on Sentosa.
He found it “very nice” that the apartment was “quiet” and away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Kong Hee lived there, while asking for legal fee donations
This penthouse first came under public scrutiny when it was revealed that Kong Hee lived here in 2015, even as he appealed for church donations to pay his legal fees for the CHC case.
This inadvertently sparked a debate on how ethical and necessary his requests were.
Rooftop infinity pool overlooking luxury yacht harbour
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Kong Hee maintained that the penthouse was only his “temporary home“, as he had sold his other properties.
Well, more prophetic words have never been spoken.
Jail’s no Sentosa Cove for sure
Kong Hee currently resides in Changi Prison as part of a 3.5-year jail sentence.
He was convicted of colluding with 5 others to pump $50 million from church building funds into the ‘Crossover Project’, to boost his wife Sun Ho’s singing career.
High, high, high-SES living
The 11th-storey duplex apartment not only overlooks a stunning waterway, but houses these luxuries as well:
- Stunning crystal light fixtures (imported)
- Personal lift service
- 4 bedrooms
- 1 entertainment room
- 1 jacuzzi
- Rooftop with infinity pool
Apparently, the rooftop pool was a fantastic vantage point for “luxury yachts entering the marina”, our city skyline and NDP fireworks.
Compared to the 5-room HDB flat at Tampines Kong Hee and Sun Ho had bought in 1992, this penthouse definitely puts high-SES living to shame.
A new lease of life
We bid the new owners of Kong Hee’s controversial “temporary home” all the best.
After all, Kong Hee was arrested in this very penthouse back in 2012.
Of course, 6 years is probably long enough to get over the bad juju associated with it.
We hope the views from the infinity pool will well be worth the $7.2 million paid, as the home gains a new lease of life under its new owners.
Featured image from Kong Hee on Facebook and EdgeProp.
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