Yang Yin mulls guilty plea for misappropriation charges
Yang Yin. Photo: Facebook
SINGAPORE — In the latest twist in his case, former tour guide Yang Yin is considering whether to plead guilty to misappropriating money from an elderly widow — the second time this has happened after he claimed trial.
The 42-year-old Chinese national is facing two charges of making off with S$500,000 and S$600,000 from Mdm Chung Khin Chun, 89, between February 2010 and January 2012.
In July, five days into his trial, he told the court he intended to plead guilty, only to change his mind later, saying he had evidence that he had yet to show the court.
On Monday (Aug 15), Yang took the stand again but before the prosecution could finish cross-examining him, Yang asked to speak to his lawyer, Mr Irving Choh, who told reporters later his client was considering whether to plead guilty. Yang was given until Tuesday morning to take a decision.
During the hearing today, the prosecution sought to prove that Yang had tried to deceive Mdm Chung of the S$500,000 that was allegedly used to buy a painting Yin Ma Tu from China.
When Deputy Public Prosecutor Sanjiv Vaswani put it to Yang that the money was entrusted to him by Mdm Chung to purchase the painting in China, Yang said that there was “no such thing as purchasing a painting”. “We only used this as an excuse for her to transfer the money, it was what we discussed in private at home,” he said, through a Mandarin interpreter.
Yang also denied suggestions that he had created or procured the receipt to deceive Mdm Chung that he had purchased the painting.
When DPP Sanjiv suggested that Yang had misappropriated the S$500,000, Yang said: “I really can’t agree (with) that because I wasn’t dishonest.”
Before the court heard the current case, Yang was convicted of 120 charges in June, with the bulk relating to the falsification of receipts for his music and dance school to gain permanent residency here. The others were for immigration and cheating offences, as well as breaches of the Companies Act. Another 227 charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing.
