Ex-tour guide can liquidate life policies

THE former China tour guide who was taken to court over a wealthy widow's fortune has received a lifeline to pay for his legal expenses.

The High Court yesterday approved an application made by Chinese national Yang Yin to liquidate two life insurance policies worth about $98,000 together to pay for his legal fees.

Said Yang's lawyer, Mr Joseph Liow, after the in-chambers hearing yesterday: "The basis of our application was, without access to funds, he won't have funds to pay his lawyers." Yang's lawyers would have to submit his legal expenses to the court, which will decide if the bill is "reasonable" before the amount can be deducted and used for payment.

The Singapore permanent resident's assets were frozen last August after Madam Hedy Mok, the niece of wealthy widow Chung Khin Chun, accused Yang of masterminding control over her aunt's assets - estimated at $40 million, including a $30 million bungalow in Gerald Crescent.

Madam Mok's lawyer, Mr Peter Doraisamy, said he had opposed the application to liquidate the insurance policies. He added that he will be seeking Madam Mok's instructions on whether to file an appeal on the matter.

Separately, the court received another application from Yang, who asked that the court release to Madam Mok an amount of $6,000 a month for Madam Chung's upkeep. No decision was on made on this.

There was also no decision made for an earlier application Yang had made to withdraw $12,000 a month from his frozen bank accounts for personal and legal expenses.

Madam Chung, 88, met Yang, 41, in 2008 while he was her tour guide in China. The next year, he moved into her bungalow. Madam Mok, 61, who runs a travel agency, is suing Yang and his family in the High Court to recover money that they allegedly siphoned away. Yang has been in remand since Oct 31 last year.

He faces more than 300 charges in total, including two criminal breach of trust charges for allegedly misappropriating $1.1 million from the wealthy widow.

kcarolyn@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Apr 14, 2015.
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