Yang Yin’s trial begins: 2 different accounts of how former tour guide used S$600,000 of widow’s money

SINGAPORE — Former tour guide Yang Yin, caught in a longstanding legal battle over an 89-year-old widow’s financial assets, allegedly made off with half a million dollars entrusted to him to buy a painting and bought a fake artwork instead.

The 42-year-old also liquidated more than S$1.3 million worth of unit trust investments — allegedly meant for the care of the widow, Madam Chung Khin Chun — and then withdrew about half of it (S$600,000) in cash. 

His trial for two criminal breach of trust charges opened on Friday (July 1), with three prosecution witnesses taking the stand. The prosecution charged that Yang had misappropriated a total of S$1.1 million from the widow between February 2010 and January 2012, but he is denying it.

Madam Chung, who has been suffering from dementia since 2014, first met Yang at a travel fair in 2006. They kept in touch over the years, and in February 2009, he moved into her 31,000-sqf bungalow in Gerald Crescent near Buangkok. 

A year later, in February 2010, Madam Chung transferred S$500,000 to a China bank account belonging to Yang’s father, Mr Yang Sannan. The money was intended to buy a painting titled Horse Drinking Water, by prominent Chinese artist Xu Beihong. 

Yang Yin. TODAY file photo

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sanjiv Vaswani said that Yang did not follow through with the task. “Any claims that he did in fact purchase such a painting for S$500,000 is a material falsehood, and his failure to properly account for this sum is in itself evidence of misappropriation,” he said.

On the same day that Madam Chung sent the sum to Yang’s father, the unit trusts — originally placed in a joint account with Yang — were transferred to the tour guide solely. “The sums held by (Yang) were meant for the care, maintenance and use of Madam Chung, and for no other reason,’ DPP Vaswani said. 

Over two days in September 2011 and October 2011, Yang allegedly liquidated the unit trusts and credited the proceeds — totalling more than S$1.3 million — into his bank account. Three months later, he withdrew S$600,000 in cash.

Mr Ngoh Boon Leong, a relationship manager at OCBC Bank who handled Yang’s account, testified that Yang said he needed the money to open an art gallery in Hong Kong. “I was quite bewildered… my understanding of normal business entities was that they don’t normally require cash in collateral. (Besides), the amount was too big for that,” Mr Ngoh said.

Yang claimed that part of the sum would be used for operating expenses and to buy art pieces. ​

Mr Ngoh suggested doing a telegraphic transfer, but Yang insisted that the Hong Kong authorities, and the purchase of paintings, required cash. He then asked for large notes “for easy transporting”.

The banker said that Yang had been his client since November 2011, and he was told that Yang was in the business of buying and selling paintings, and lived with his grandmother. 

While Yang told his banker this story, he had another version for the court. In court documents filed in a civil suit, Yang said that he spent the S$600,000 to buy six paintings. 

The civil suit was launched by Madam Chung’s niece Hedy Mok, who is seeking damages over the alleged abuse of his powers as her aunt’s guardian under the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) scheme.

DPP Vaswani said: “(We) will put forward evidence as to the provenance and true origins of these (six) paintings, as well as any value ascribed to them.”

During a raid of his Fernvale rental apartment on Sept 17, 2014, Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) officers found a painting depicting a horse lapping at a pool of water in Yang’s suitcase. 

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Yow Kien Seng testified at the trial that he found a small white envelope, folded in half, inside Yang’s suitcase. It contained a painting, folded “five to six” times. 

“I asked (Yang) how much it was. He said it was S$500,000. I was shocked. I thought I had misheard and asked again. He replied that it was S$500,000,” ASP Yow said. 

Defence lawyer Irving Choh argued that Yang had been “puzzled and frightened” during the raid, and lied about the cost of the painting. The lawyer added that the painting belonged to Madam Chung, and she had instructed Yang to authenticate it. 

During a second raid two days after that, Yang identified five Chinese paintings in the widow’s bungalow, saying he bought them using her money. The CAD officers then seized the artworks.

The hearing on Friday (July 1) was adjourned abruptly midway because Yang felt unwell. During the seven-day trial, the prosecution will call 13 witnesses, while the defence will call four witnesses, including Yang.  

In May, Yang admitted to 120 charges, mainly for the falsification of receipts belonging to his music and dance school. The forged receipts amounted to S$186,900. Sentencing has been postponed till a later date.