SINGAPORE — Former China tour guide Yang Yin is accused by the prosecution of lying to wealthy widow Chung Khin Chun and to the court on several occasions, when he took the stand for the second day during his criminal breach of trust trial on Wednesday (Aug 3).

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sanjiv Vaswani, in cross-examining Yang, charged that the 42-year-old lied about passing his driving test in 2009 to the widow, who is now 89.

After he told her the news over the phone about his driving test in China, Madam Chung remitted S$40,000 to Yang on March 25 to buy a car.

However, documents showed that Yang had his driving licence issued in China on Aug 20 later that year. Immigrations records also showed that Yang arrived in Singapore on Feb 27 and left on March 27.

Based on these, DPP Vaswani charged that Yang was still in Singapore when the widow remitted the money to his bank account, or Yang had pretended to leave Singapore and called her.

In response, Yang said in Mandarin: “At that time maybe, I was talking to Madam Chung face-to-face, maybe I recalled that part wrongly... I think that could be the only explanation.”

Yang is facing two criminal breach of trust charges and allegedly misappropriated S$1.1 million from Madam Chung.
During the hearing, the prosecution alleged that Yang also lied about two sums of money given to him by the widow in 2009.

Previously, Yang said that he received S$4,000 from her during Chinese New Year as a token that she had accepted him as her “grandson”.

When DPP Vaswani referred to a letter that Yang wrote on Jan 3, 2009, to thank her for the red packet with the money, Yang revealed during cross-examination that the S$4,000 was given to him either on Jan 1 or 2 that year.

When the prosecution pointed out that the Chinese New Year period was not in early January, Yang replied that Jan 1 is “considered like the new year”.

The court was also told that Yang had written a letter to Madam Chung on April 6, 2009, to thank her for giving him S$12,000 as a red packet.

When asked why the S$12,000 is still considered a red packet when Chinese New Year was over by then, Yang replied that a red packet is given not just during the festive season. “As long as an elder wants to give a junior a red packet, the person can do so at any time of the year,” he said.

During the trial, the prosecution continued to poke holes in his testimony, pointing out that Yang travelled frequently after moving to Singapore in 2009, unlike his earlier claims that he did not do so. This is even though Yang knew that he needed to be around to accompany her.

For instance, Yang left and re-entered Singapore 20 times between Feb 11, 2012 and Sept 4, 2014.

However, Yang said that this was “not considered frequent”. Even when he travelled, it was once in every two months and it was usually to visit his children in China, he said.

He added that while he was away, he would make efforts to ensure that the widow was fine by talking to her on the phone daily and informing her domestic helpers that he would be away.

Apart from these details, the court also heard that Yang’s first application for permanent residence in 2010 was rejected, but was approved the following year when he re-applied.

He had claimed in his application form that he received a diploma and bachelor’s degree from the University of Financial and Trade Beijing, China.

Pointing out that Yang was awarded a diploma on June 30, 2009 and received a degree the following day, DPP Vaswani charged that either one or both of the certificates are fake.

However, Yang said that he was told by the institution that if he studied for three years, he would be given both certificates.

The trial continues on Thursday.