Singaporean woman killed in Spain knew suspect for over 10 years, friends tell court

MURCIA: Two close friends of Singaporean Audrey Fang, who was killed while on holiday in Spain, told a Spanish court on Wednesday (Jun 26) that she had known her suspected killer for more than 10 years.

Both friends spoke via video link from Singapore and through a translator at the hearing, which was held in chambers – meaning the public and media were not allowed in. The hearing lasted from 11.45am to about 3pm local time.

The lawyer for Ms Fang’s family, Mr Manuel Martinez, spoke to media after the hearing.

According to him, the witnesses told the judge that Ms Fang, 39, was romantically interested in her suspected killer, Singaporean Mitchell Ong, but he seemed interested only in selling financial assets to her. It was reported that they had met on Tinder years ago.

The two witnesses were close friends with Ms Fang and she had told them about Ong before, but they did not know him personally. 

They said she had planned to meet 43-year-old Ong in Spain during her holiday.

Ms Fang had wanted to introduce her family to Ong, but he refused to meet them. According to the lawyer, the witnesses said she was interested in having a boyfriend and that she liked Ong.

On Apr 10, Ms Fang’s body was found with 30 stab wounds in the Spanish municipality of Abanilla, about 150km from her hotel.

Ong was arrested on Apr 16 on suspicion of killing her, after camera footage showed her being picked up from her hotel in a car driven by him.

Ms Fang’s brother told CNA earlier this month that the two witnesses were close friends with his sister.

He said he was surprised Ms Fang would have a close relationship with Ong. He added: “My sister was a down-to-earth, stay home kind of woman. The suspect is apparently the direct opposite.”

The victim’s family is calling for “as much justice as possible”, said Mr Martinez on Wednesday.

He said he would request a jail sentence of 20 to 25 years for Ong if he is found guilty of killing Ms Fang.

Ong has not been charged and remains detained in Sangonera prison in Murcia. Under Spanish law, a person can be on pre-trial detention for up to two years. This can be extended by another two years for serious offences.

According to sources close to the case, he has not yet given a statement to the authorities. A suspect has the right not to do so, under Spanish law.

ECONOMIC MOTIVE

Mr Martinez said the Civil Guard, a national police force in Spain, is still investigating a possible “economic” motive behind the killing.

Mr Fang previously told CNA that his sister had nominated Ong to be the beneficiary of her Central Provident Fund (CPF), a mandatory social security savings scheme.

She made the nomination in person in October last year, about six months before she was found dead.

Around the time Ms Fang nominated Ong as her beneficiary, almost S$200,000 (US$148,000) was deposited into her CPF account. Mr Martinez said Ms Fang's CPF account has more than €430,000 (US$462,000).

“If the CPF Board is informed of any facts or circumstances which may affect the validity of the CPF nomination, an investigation will be conducted by examining the evidence and supporting documents to ascertain the validity of the CPF nomination,” said the statutory board on Jun 3 in response to queries from CNA. 

“For CPF nominations that are contested posthumously, CPF Board will withhold the distribution of the deceased member’s CPF savings till investigations are completed.

“If the nomination is found to be invalid, CPF savings will generally be distributed based on an earlier nomination if any, or according to intestacy laws.” 

In late April, Ms Fang's family discovered that she had bought insurance from the suspect.

They were looking through her belongings when they came across two investment-linked policies from insurer AIA.

The policies were sold by an agent named Ong Cheong Yi, which is the suspect’s Chinese name.

According to a LinkedIn profile that has since been deleted, Ong worked at AIA from January 2014 to February 2019.