High Court allows Yang Yin to liquidate two life insurance polices for expenses
Photo: Yang Yin/Facebook
SINGAPORE — The High Court has allowed former tour guide Yang Yin to liquidate two life insurance policies, said to be worth about S$98,000, for his legal and personal expenses.
Yang is being sued by the niece of wealthy widow Chung Khin Chun for loss and damages arising from his alleged breach of duties under a legal document that gave him control of Madam Chung’s assets.
His assets have been frozen via a Mareva injunction since last August. He is allowed to withdraw S$3,000 a week for legal and personal expenses under the injunction, but has been unable to do so.
In a closed-door hearing, Justice Judith Prakash today (April 13) allowed two life insurance policies to be liquidated, but did not allow funds from Yang’s OCBC bank accounts to be released.
Yang’s lawyers have to present their bill to the court to determine if it is reasonable, before the money can be disbursed to pay them, said his lawyer Joseph Liow.
Mr Liow told reporters he would be taking the necessary forms for his client to sign, but the liquidation process “might take a little while”.
Lawyer Peter Doraisamy, who represents Mdm Chung’s niece Hedy Mok, said he would take instructions on whether to appeal the decision. Mdm Mok had opposed the liquidation of the insurance policies, arguing that they should be part of Mdm Chung’s estate.
Yang, a Chinese national, is separately facing over 300 criminal charges for faking receipts of his music and dance school to gain permanent residency status here, among other offences.
He has been in remand since October last year.
Yang, 41, met Mdm Chung, 88, in Beijing in 2008 and moved into her bungalow here the following year.
He gained control of her assets — said to be worth about S$40 million — through her Lasting Power of Attorney in 2012, but that power was stripped last November when the Family Justice Courts ruled that Mdm Chung, who has dementia, had the mental capacity to to revoke the document.
Last week, the Family Justice Courts recognised Mdm Chung’s new will that leaves the bulk of her fortune to charity, and nothing to Yang.
