SINGAPORE: When confronted by prosecutors with several inconsistencies in his testimony on Wednesday (Aug 3), Yang Yin stuck to his mantra: “It was a gift”.
Yang, 42, said this about the S$40,000 wealthy Singaporean widow Madam Chung Khin Chun had remitted to him in March 2009.
The former China tour guide insisted the money was for him to buy a car, after he had told Mdm Chung, now 89, that he had passed his driving test.
But prosecutors called Yang’s bluff, producing records showing Yang had obtained his licence in China only months later in August 2009, and converted this into a Singapore licence in October 2009.
“You lied to Mdm Chung that you had already obtained your licence in order to receive this S$40,000”, Deputy Public Prosecutor Sanjiv Vaswani said. Yang disagreed, despite the documentary evidence: “I’ve never lied to her.”
DPP Vaswani pointed out Mdm Chung’s driver of more than 30 years had been fired “conveniently, eight days after you converted your licence” on Oct 28, 2009.
Yang replied that Mdm Chung had fired the driver “because of some unpleasantness ... he (the driver) also didn’t quite like me”. Yang claimed the driver “used some Malay words, in an unfriendly tone” when Yang wanted to use the car to practise driving.
Yang also claimed the driver was fired after the driver had choked him.
Prosecutors also accused Yang of lying about two other sums - the S$4,000 and S$12,000 Mdm Chung had given to him in 2009.
He said he received S$4,000 from Mdm Chung as a token that she had accepted Yang as her grandson. But the prosecution said that Yang was exaggerating and that the amount was merely a new year red packet.
DPP Vaswani pointed to a letter that Yang had written to Mdm Chung dated Jan 3, 2009, in which Yang thanked the widow for a red packet.
Yang also claimed he received another sum of S$12,000 from Mdm Chung as a red packet for Chinese New Year.
As proof, Yang referred to a letter he wrote to Mdm Chung dated Apr 6, 2009 in which he thanked her for the red packet.
But the prosecution pointed out that it was "illogical" to thank Mdm Chung for a Chinese New Year red packet in April as the festival that year fell in January.
To that, Yang said that the only explanation was that his memory of the dates was wrong, adding that he had not considered whether it was illogical or not.
He added that in this world, many things do not follow logic - Mdm Chung and him having spent so many years living together being very good evidence of that.
Yang was also asked whether he had foreseen that he would have to spend a lot of time with Mdm Chung, as her alleged grandson. Yang replied yes and said that Mdm Chung needed him to accompany her.
But the prosecution put it that Yang was a frequent traveller: From the time Yang got his employment pass in 2009 to his arrest in 2014, he was away from Singapore for 307 days.
Yang said that he was only away temporarily, and that the duration of each trip would not exceed 10 days. He also said he would inform the maids to take care of Mdm Chung during his absence.
Yang was also asked about the police report he lodged on Aug 21, 2014, where he said Mdm Chung left the bungalow in Gerald Crescent with her niece Hedy Mok. Prior to that, Mdm Chung had been staying at the bungalow with Yang.
In the police report, Yang had described Mdm Mok as his relative. But the prosecution pointed out that during the trial on Tuesday, Yang said he had no relations with Mdm Mok and that he was not familiar with her.
DPP Vaswani argued this showed Yang had no qualms about telling the police he was Mdm Mok's relative, and that he would exaggerate his relationships with people.
To that, Yang said he was confused and that he was trying to fetch Mdm Chung back as soon as possible so he could bring her to see the doctor the following day.
But the prosecution pointed out that in the police report, Yang said he had lodged it for his lawyer's record.
Yang, who has been sued by Mdm Mok in the High Court, repeatedly asked prosecutors if they would be continuing to question him over overlapping aspects of his criminal and civil cases. This prompted Judge Jennifer Marie to ask the Mandarin interpreter to “tell (Yang) to just answer the questions”.
Faced with several inconsistencies, Yang explained them away by repeatedly telling prosecutors “maybe I wrote wrongly”, “maybe I recalled wrongly”, and finally “I did it in a hurry”, Yang said, referring to his affidavit, which documents monies Mdm Chung had transferred to him.