A FORMER tour guide from China is expected to plead guilty to 347 out of the 349 charges brought against him for duping a wealthy Singaporean widow, including allegedly falsifying receipts amounting to more than US$326,484 (SG$450,000).
Yang Yin, 42, was arrested in 2014 and has spent 19 months in Changi prison, having been denied bail at the time of arrest. He has also been accused of plotting to steal about US$29million (SG$40million) in cash and assets from Madam Chung Khin Chun, 89, a widow for whom Yang was a private tour guide during a visit to China.
Additionally, Yang has been accused of fooling the Singapore government into granting him an employment pass and permanent residency, according to the Straits Times. All in all, he faced 349 charges with the most serious being a criminal breach of trust in targeting a vulnerable widow.
He made his first public appearance since his arrest during a trial on Monday, the first of two he must stand due to the huge number of charges he faces. Channel News Asia reports Yang became aggressive towards Madam Chung and her niece Madam Hedy Mok, who filed the charges against him.
Police had to restrain and lead him to the dock after he made a move towards the two women and shouted at them in Mandarin.
Trial of China ex-tour guide Yang Yin begins today https://t.co/REnc9jMiMQ pic.twitter.com/G1o6anZp3E
— The Straits Times (@STcom) May 30, 2016
Deputy Presiding Judge Jennifer Marie has fixed a hearing for Yang on Tuesday with his lawyer Wee Pan Lee.
Mr Wee said Yang is “still on track” to enter his guilty plea, although he will be disputing a single sentence in the prosecution’s statement.
While the case against Yang began in 2014, his dealings with Madam Chung go back as far as 2006, when he first met her and her late husband, Dr Chou Sip Kung. In 2008, after her husband’s death, Madam Chung and a friend went to China, where they hired Yang as their private tour guide.
Yang reportedly claimed that Madam Chung wanted him to be her “grandson” and moved in with her in her Singapore bungalow in 2009. In the following years, he set up a company, obtained an employment pass and permanent residency in the country.
In 2012, unbeknownst to her niece, Madam Mok, Yang was granted Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) by Madam Chung, giving him complete control over her welfare and assets.
The widow was diagnosed with dementia in 2014, when the case came to light after Madam Mok applied to be her aunt’s legal guardian and took Yang to court, where she was able to get the LPA revoked, and Yang arrested and charged with various criminal offenses.
The post Singapore: Ex-tour guide to plead guilty to 347 charges involving over $326K appeared first on Asian Correspondent.
