High Court upholds ex-principal's conviction

A district court's decision to convict former Maris Stella High School principal Anthony Tan Kim Hock for misappropriating some S$67,000 of the school's chapel building fund has been upheld by the High Court.

Tan was convicted in April last year for using money from the fund to pay for expenses incurred in renovating Champagnat House, the residence of the Marist Brothers in Singapore. He was sentenced to five months' jail.

Tan appealed against his conviction and sentence. The prosecution cross-appealed against the sentence.

The High Court dismissed both the appeal and cross-appeal.

Justice Chan Seng Onn, in a written judgment, said he agreed with the district court judge that the offence had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. He said he was not convinced that Tan had not intended to cause any wrongful loss to the school due to his belief that, by improving Champagnat House, he was benefiting the religious mission which the school was a part of.