David Yong from Netflix's Super Rich In Korea offered S$1 million bail, gets new charge

SINGAPORE: Singaporean businessman David Yong was handed a fresh charge of falsifying financial statements on Thursday (Aug 15) and was offered bail of S$1 million (US$759,000).

Yong, the 37-year-old chief executive officer of multinational business and holding company Evergreen Group Holdings, now faces a total of four charges linked to falsified documents.

The latest charge accuses him of instigating a Thung Sai Fun between October 2022 and February 2023 to falsify several line items in Evergreen Assets Management's financial statements for the financial year ending Mar 31, 2022, which resulted in a reported profit before tax of about S$8 million.

This was with the intent to defraud, the charge sheet stated.

Yong appeared in court from his place of remand, wearing a red polo tee and appearing unshaven and wan.

In order to be bailed out, he will have to furnish bail of S$1 million by one surety, or half a million by two sureties, and comply with bail conditions.

These include electronic tagging, abiding by curfew hours and reporting to the investigation officer weekly.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Theong Li Han had offered the bail of S$1 million along with the suggested conditions.

She noted that the police's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) is still awaiting confirmation from Cambodian authorities that Yong has surrendered his Cambodian passport and renounced his Cambodian citizenship.

Ms Theong said the bail sum must be sufficiently high to address the high flight risk and the "still significant amount of unaccounted funds".

His lawyers, Mr Sunil Sudheesan and Ms Joyce Khoo from Quahe Woo & Palmer, argued against the S$1 million bail offered by the prosecution, asking instead for S$250,000.

Mr Sudheesan said Yong's father, who was in court, would be the bailor.

Mr Yong Ing Fatt is listed on Evergreen Group Holdings' website as group advisor.

Mr Sudheesan said his client currently has no passport in his possession, as he had surrendered his Cambodian passport to the Cambodian authorities in June 2024 and had shown the investigating officer documents to confirm he had renounced his Cambodian citizenship.

He said the bail amount of S$1 million was "astronomical in this case", noting there is no allegation of cheating nor mention of any victims in the charges levied against Yong.

"What you have are a number of purportedly falsified invoices for household fittings and appliances, furniture and interior design services," said Mr Sudheesan.

Referring to an affidavit provided by the investigation officer in support of the prosecution's case for S$1 million bail, the lawyer said there seems to be "only a wrongful gain of $240,000 at the most".

In reply, the prosecutor Ms Theong said what was more significant was the fact that significant funds of $63 million have been raised by Evergreen since 2019.

"Until now, the funds that can be accounted for are just a small portion, being the $7.8 million in the corporate accounts and the loan agreements that total just approximately $2.4 million," she said.

She added that CAD was looking into this, and this was "the cause of concern" that needed to be addressed by imposing a high-enough bail sum.

The judge agreed with the prosecution's submissions, noting that Yong has overseas connections with several countries and that CAD is still waiting for confirmation from Cambodian authorities about his passport there.

Yong will return to court for a pre-trial conference in September.

If convicted of abetting the falsification of documents, he faces up to 10 years' jail, a fine, or both per charge.

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

Yong had declared himself as part of "Singapore's top 1 per cent super rich" on the Netflix show Super Rich In Korea, which showcases the lifestyles of extremely affluent people who set up base in Korea.

The police said in early August that CAD was investigating Evergreen Group Holdings' business activities for alleged fraud on suspicions that investors' funds had been misused.

Various companies under Evergreen Group Holdings were raising funds through the issuance of promissory notes that promised an annual interest of 10 per cent.

These promissory notes - legal instruments where one party promises to pay another party a sum of money - may have been issued in contravention of the Securities and Futures Act, they added.

Companies under the name include Evergreen Grp Holdings, Evergreen GH - formerly known as Evergreen Assets Management (Singapore), and Everventures.

According to Evergreen Group Holdings' website, the company was established in the 1990s and now has a presence in Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

It started out as a timber company and is now involved in finance, automotive, real estate and lifestyle industries.

Another 37-year-old man was arrested along with Yong, but he has yet to be charged or named publicly.