American R&B singer Chris Brown has been forbidden from leaving the Philippines after allegedly bowing out in an agreement with a popular religious sect, Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ).
Chris Brown, 25, performed his concert on Tuesday in Manila, but was unable to fly out of the country thereafter because he was given a hold departure order from the Philippines' Justice Department unless he secured a clearance from the government stating he does not have any legal responsibility in the Philippines, a statement coming from Elaine Tan, a spokeswoman of the Immigration Bureau, as per ABC News.
Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ), a prominent, indigenous and conservative religious group, accused Chris Brown of failing to keep his end of the bargain to perform in a New Year's Eve event at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, Philippines, an indoor arena belonging to the group, last Dec. 31, 2014.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, a letter coming from Glicerio Santos, Chief Operating Officer of the sect, which was made accessible to reporters by the Justice Department, stated Chris Brown and his Filipino promoter allegedly swindled the Church of Christ.
Santos said in his letter to Sec. Leila de Lima of the Justice Department: "We would appreciate any assistance you can provide to us ... [against] producers and talents who employ such fraudulent schemes to obtain money from legitimate businesses in the country."
It was reported earlier that Chris Brown was not able to come to the Philippines for the New Year's Eve party because of his missing passport.
In a recent report from Daily News, Chris Brown would be leaving the Philippines by Thursday morning once he settled the contract dispute with Church of Christ.
Chris Brown's representative announced that the American singer's next stop is in Hong Kong to continue his tour. The hold-up in the Philippines affected his scheduled performance in Hong Kong and has been moved from Wednesday night to Thursday night.
There were no clear details as to how the conflict was resolved, but Chris Brown's rep said the hip-hop artist did not compensate anyone.
Apparently, this is not Chris Brown's first run in with the law. He was caught in a scandal in 2009, when he pleaded guilty to then-girlfriend Rihanna's case of assault. Flash forward three years after that, he got involved in a bottle-throwing fight with Toronto rapper Drake, and in 2013 he was accused of running away from a scene involving a car accident, pushing a woman roughly at an Anaheim night club and committing assault outside of a Washington hotel.
After all the drama that unfolded, Chris Brown would have a lot of things to remember from his experience in the Phillippines.
