Yang Yin used fake degree certificate to apply for PR: Prosecution

Former tour guide Yang Yin, accused of misappropriating S$1.1 million from a wealthy Singaporean widow, submitted a fake degree certificate in order to obtain permanent residency in Singapore, the prosecution alleged in court on Thursday (Aug 4). 

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sanjiv Vaswani referred to two certificates submitted in the application, showing that Yang was granted a certificate of graduation on Jun 30, 2009 - a day before he was supposedly awarded a bachelor's degree on Jul 1, 2009.

To that, Yang said that it was "very normal" and that the certificates would sometimes be mailed out a day later. The DPP pointed out, however, that the dates were not postmarks.

This was one of several inconsistencies DPP Vaswani pointed out in Yang's evidence, continuing a line of questioning from Wednesday. 

In an earlier statement to the police, Yang said that the widow, Madam Chung Khin Chun, had asked him to manage the funds in her bank accounts. But in a later affidavit, he claimed that the money in his bank accounts originated from Mdm Chung's bank and unit trust accounts and she ultimately gave him the money around December 2010 as a gift. 

DPP Vaswani suggested in court on Thursday that he had made a "switch, a turnaround". 

He also pointed out that the change in testimony happened after Yang was unable to make withdrawals from his accounts following legal proceedings taken against him.

The DPP said that the notion of the money being a gift was an "afterthought" for Yang to gain access to funds in the accounts.

The trial continues.