Widow makes new will, leaves fortune to charity

Widow makes new will, leaves fortune to charity

The wealthy widow fighting to retake control of her estimated $40 million assets has cut former China tour guide Yang Yin out of her will.

Madam Chung Khin Chun, 87, has made a new will which leaves nearly all her fortune to charity.

She has cancelled one made in 2010 in which Yang was set to inherit all her assets, including a $30 million bungalow off Yio Chu Kang Road.

The new will, made last Saturday, came three weeks after the Family Court ruled that the widow was mentally capable of deciding who should take care of her finances and personal welfare.

The court had allowed her to cancel a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) she granted Yang in 2012 which gave the former tour guide control over her assets.

In the new will, seen by The Straits Times, Madam Chung stipulated that $500,000 be given to Madam Chang Phie Chin, whom she calls her "dear friend". The retired teacher, 84, has known Madam Chung for more than 50 years and lived with her in her bungalow from 2005 to 2011.

Madam Chung's only sister Doris will get $500,000.

The rest will go into setting up a charitable trust named the Dr Chou Sip King Trust, in honour of her late husband - a general practitioner who died in 2007.

The couple did not have any children.

In the will, the widow appointed her niece, Madam Hedy Mok, a tour agency owner, to run the trust for 30 years and make annual donations to beneficiaries in four fields: education, children's charity, animal welfare and medical research.

"He has no more interest in my aunt's assets," said Madam Mok of Yang, adding: "He gets nothing. If he wants to challenge the will, he has to go to court."

Madam Mok added that her aunt's lawyer will be filing the new will in court soon.

The Chinese national had met the widow in 2008 while acting as her private tour guide when she visited Beijing with Madam Chang.

A year later, he moved into the widow's bungalow, claiming that she had adopted him as a grandson and asked him to look after her.

He set up a music and dance school and obtained an Employment Pass in 2009. He obtained permanent residency in 2011 and brought his wife and two young children to Singapore last year as his dependants.

The 40-year-old has since been arrested by police and charged in court. He faces 334 charges for allegedly lying to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority and falsifying receipts made to his company, Young Music and Dance Studio.

He has been denied bail and has remained behind bars since Oct 31. He is due back in court for a pre-trial conference on Thursday.

Separately, Yang is also being sued by Madam Mok in the High Court for allegedly manipulating her aunt into handing over her assets.

Madam Mok is seeking damages and trying to add his wife, parents and previous bailor as defendants in the suit. The suit will be heard today.

tohyc@sph.com.sg

kcarolyn@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on Dec 15, 2014.
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