PETALING JAYA: A fugitive lawyer who fled Singapore in July 2022 while out on bail facing criminal charges, was apprehended by the United Kingdom authorities on November 4.
Charles Yeo Yao Hui’s arrest follows a request made by Singapore for his extradition in October 2023 over an alleged abetment of cheating related to funds released to his law firm as part of a client settlement.
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“The matter is now before the UK courts, and the UK Crown Prosecution Service will be following up on this in accordance with the UK laws governing extradition,” the Attorney-General’s Chambers told The Straits Times on November 13.
“As the matter is pending judicial proceedings, it would not be appropriate for us to comment on the matter.”
Yeo, who was the former chairman of Singapore’s Reform Party, faced multiple charges earlier, including one in January 2022 for allegedly offending the religious feelings of the Christian community with remarks on his social media platforms.
He also faced charges related to posting abusive comments about a police officer in a series of Instagram stories.
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These charges were part of a total of six counts linked to actions carried out between November 2020 and February 2021.
In July 2022, he was granted permission to leave Singapore for Vietnam to meet a witness involved in an ongoing trial that he was handling.
He was released on bail, with his mother acting as the bailor, and was supposed to return to Singapore by late July.
However, he failed to do so, and by August 1, 2022, a district court declared that Yeo had not returned.
Subsequently, he announced on social media that he was seeking asylum in the UK.
His bail of $15,000 (approx. RM67,338) was forfeited in September 2022 after he absconded.
