SINGAPORE — Taking the stand for the first time after changing his mind about pleading guilty, former tour guide Yang Yin claimed on Tuesday (Aug 2) that Madam Chung Khin Chun had spoken to him about her decision to draw up a will to leave him with “all her money, her assets… as a gift”.

Yang, 42, faces two criminal breach of trust charges and he is accused of misappropriating S$1.1million from Mdm Chung, 89.  

Recalling a conversation with Mdm Chung in Feb 2010, Yang said:  “At that time, Mdm Chung briefly explained (the) contents (of the will) to me… She just told me that I will inherit all that she had.”  Adding that he was “a little surprised” about her decision, Yang nevertheless claimed that Mdm Chung had been thinking about making the will since she came back from her holiday in Beijing in 2008 - when she had first met Yang.

Yang also told the court that Mdm Chung brought him and her long-time friend Mdm Chang Phie Chin, 86, to the law firm when she drew up the will. In the presence of a lawyer, Mdm Chung asked him to tell her friend that she would be leaving about S$300,000 to him, Yang claimed. Upon hearing this, Mdm Chang was “very displeased and dejected”, Yang added.

Mdm Chung’s assets include a S$30 million bungalow in Seletar Hills that Yang moved into in 2009. Yang also cited a psychiatric report in Aug 2009 where Mdm  Chung said she regarded Yang as her grandson. "At that time (when) she made such a will, a black and white document, I was very certain she wasn't joking. She was willing to leave all that she owned to me as a gift," said Yang. 

The court had previously heard that Yang had received S$1.1 million from Mdm Chung and used the money to buy paintings. This morning, Yang changed his tune and claimed that he had said that because Mdm Chung was worried that her relatives and friends would be jealous that she gave him money. “Mdm Chung is a person who values her privacy and me too, so when she said that I agreed,” said Yang.

He had also returned S$600,000 after Mdm Chung asked for it back, he claimed. For the remaining sum, he remitted it to his family in China after Mdm Chung asked him to consider using the money to clear his father’s debts.

In 2012, Mdm Chung also appointed Yang as her proxy decision-maker under the Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) in the event of lost mental capacity. The high-profile legal tussle started in 2014, after Mdm Chung revoked the LPA.

The trial resumes tomorrow.