Yang Yin found guilty of misappropriating S$1.1 million from elderly widow
Yang Yin has been found guilty for the misappropriation of S$1.1 million from elderly widow Mdm Chung Khin Chun . Photo: Facebook
SINGAPORE — After many twists and turns over a 12-day trial, former tour guide Yang Yin was on Tuesday (Aug 16) found guilty of two charges of criminal breach of trust, involving S$1.1 million misappropriated from a wealthy elderly widow.
The 42-year-old Chinese national pleaded guilty to two charges of making off with S$500,000 and S$600,000 from 89-year-old Mdm Chung Khin Chun, between February 2010 and January 2012.
Yang, who has been in remand since Oct 2014, will return to court on Sept 9, when he is expected to be sentenced. The maximum punishment for committing criminal breach of trust is seven years jail or a fine, or both.
Five days after Yang claimed trial for these charges last month, he told the court that he intended to plead guilty. However, he changed his mind later and said he had evidence that he had yet to show the court.
The hearing then continued. When Yang took the stand on Monday (Aug 15), he requested to speak to his lawyer, Mr Irving Choh. Mr Choh later told reporters that his client was considering whether to plead guilty.
Yang was also convicted of another 120 charges in June, which mostly related to the falsification of receipts for his music and dance school to gain permanent residency in Singapore. The other charges included immigration and cheating offences as well as breaches of the Companies Act. Another 227 charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing.
Mdm Chung, who has been suffering from dementia since 2014, met Yang in 2006 when he was visiting Singapore. Over the years, they kept in contact and in February 2009, Yang moved to her bungalow in Gerald Cresent near Buangkok.
In 2014, Mdm Chung’s niece, Mdm Hedy Mok started began series of legal actions against Yang for allegedly manipulating her aunt into handling over her assets.
