The star of the popular Netflix reality show Super Rich In Korea, David Yong, was granted bail set at S$1 million (US$759,000) on Thursday after being handed a fresh fraud charge.
The 37-year-old Singaporean businessman was one of the “super rich” personalities on the show, alongside influencer Yoo Hee-ra, Iraq-born YouTuber and influencer Noor Naim and Italian Teodoro Marani, whose father is the chief executive and designer behind the luxury fashion label Henry Beguelin.
Over the past two weeks, Yong, the chief executive officer of multinational Evergreen Group Holdings, has had several court dates in Singapore over four charges related to falsifying tax claims while being an officer of Evergreen GH, one of the companies under Evergreen Group Holdings.
Dressed in a red polo shirt, a bearded Yong appeared on video-link from his place of remand. He has been in remand since August 3.
The judge allowed the prosecution’s request to set the bail at S$1 million with additional conditions of electronic tagging, a curfew from 10pm to 6am and weekly meetings with his investigation officer.
According to court documents that referred to Yong as Yong Khung Lin, between October 2022 and February 2023, Yong is accused of abetting a Thung Sai Fun to falsify papers belonging to Evergreen GH by instigating Thung to falsify line items in Evergreen Assets Management’s financial statements for the financial year ending March 31, 2022. This resulted in a reported profit before tax of S$7,984,266.
Yong’s father, Yong Ing Fatt, who was present in court, footed his bail after his lawyers Sunil Sudheesan and Joyce Khoo from Quahe Woo & Palmer were denied a bail amount of S$250,000. Evergreen Group Holdings’ website lists Yong Ing Fatt as the company’s group adviser.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Theong Li Han told the court that “a sufficiently high bail sum [was] necessary” to address funds that were unaccounted for and because Yong was a flight risk owing to the unknown whereabouts of his Cambodian passport.
Sudheesan called the S$1 million “astronomical” and said: “The accused person is Singaporean. His roots are in Singapore. There may be some affairs he has overseas but he is Singaporean.”
He added that his client had informed him the passport was returned to Cambodian officials sometime in June, after he renounced his Cambodian citizenship.
The judge, however, pointed out that bail had to be sufficiently high as Yong had “overseas connections with several countries” and Singapore’s Commercial Affairs Department were still awaiting confirmation from Cambodian officials that Yong had in fact returned his passport.
Super Rich In Korea, a six-part series released on the streaming service on May 7, showcased the extravagant lives of some of Seoul’s top 1 per cent, who made the city their second home due to their love for Korean culture.
The show featured Yong living in a rented flat at the opulent Signiel Seoul Hotel, where he had a butler, in-room dining service, a virtual golf facility and valet parking. Yong travels by private jet in the show and talks about his four-storey villa home in Singapore, complete with a lift and swimming pool.
The Singapore police said on August 3 that its Commercial Affairs Department was investigating Evergreen Group Holdings’ business activities for fraud.
Evergreen Group Holdings includes Evergreen Grp Holdings, Evergreen GH – formerly known as Evergreen Assets Management (Singapore) – Everventures and other companies.
Police said various companies under Evergreen Group Holdings were raising funds through the issuance of promissory notes that promised an annual interest of 10 per cent.
“Investigations arose due to the suspicion that investor monies were misused. In addition, these promissory notes may have been issued in contravention of the Securities and Futures Act,” police added.
Other than Yong, police said they had arrested another 37-year-old man from the company’s management in relation to the investigation.
If convicted of abetting the falsification of invoices, Yong faces up to 10 years’ jail, a fine, or both per charge.
Yong’s case is scheduled to be heard next on September 27.