Yang Yin intends to plead guilty to 347 charges

SINGAPORE — After spending the past 19 months in remand, Yang Yin, the ex-tour guide embroiled in a long-standing tussle over an elderly widow’s assets, on Monday (May 30) indicated his intention to plead guilty to 347 criminal charges, the bulk of which involve falsification of accounts and immigration offences.

However, no plea was taken from him as defence counsel Wee Pan Lee took issue with one sentence in the statement of facts prepared by the prosecution.

The hearing has been adjourned to Tuesday. If Yang is not prepared to accept the statement of facts without qualification, the matter will proceed to trial.

The 42-year-old Chinese national — who appeared to have lost considerable weight since his arrest in September 2014 — was slapped with 349 criminal charges in October and November 2014.

Yang’s lawyer told the court he intends to admit to 347 of them, including 331 for allegedly falsifying receipts worth slightly over S$450,000 of his music and dance school to gain permanent residency status here. Five of the charges involve deceiving an accountant to prepare financial statements, eight are alleged breaches of the Companies Act and three are immigration-related offences, where he is accused to have made false declarations in two applications for permanent residency and one for a long-term visit pass for his wife.

The remaining two charges leveled against were for alleged criminal breach of trust for allegedly misappropriating S$1.1 million from 89-year-old widow Madam Chung Khin Chun, but these charges will be heard at a later date.

Yang had told the court in March he wanted to contest all criminal charges pressed against him.

Among those seated in the public gallery in court today were Mdm Chung, her niece Hedy Mok, and her long-time friend Chang Phie Chin.

Yang also faces a civil suit launched by Mdm Mok, who is seeking damages from him over alleged abuse of his powers as her aunt’s guardian under the Lasting Power of Attorney scheme. Trial dates for this suit have not been fixed. Yang met Mdm Chung in China in 2008, and later moved to her bungalow here in 2009. He had gained control of her assets, estimated to be worth about S$40 million, before his powers were stripped by the court in 2014.