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Former Reform Party chairman Charles Yeo is currently in the UK to seek political asylum after breaching bail conditions.
Yeo, who is a lawyer, has been on bail after being charged for offences, including allegedly wounding the religious feelings of the Christian community and harassing a police officer.
Police also said in January 2022 that investigations were ongoing against Whitefield Law Corporation, where Yeo worked at the time, for alleged offences of criminal breach of trust and forgery.
However, he breached bail conditions after a court-approved work trip to Vietnam, by flying to the UK instead of returning to Singapore.
This led to Yeo becoming a wanted man, with the Singapore police saying on Aug. 1 that they are working with foreign law enforcement to trace Yeo’s whereabouts.
Arrest warrant issued
On Wednesday (Aug. 3), a district court issued a warrant of arrest for Yeo, granting a request made by the prosecution, CNA reported.
A warrant of arrest, according to Section 72 of the Criminal Procedure Code, requires the police or other authority to bring the arrested person before the court "without unnecessary delay".
Yeo's mother, who was his bailor, will also need to appear before the court to explain why the bail amount of S$10,000 should not be forfeited.
The judge also allowed Yeo's defence lawyers, Ashwin Ganapathy, Azri Imran Tan, and Joshua Chow to discharge themselves.
A lawyer who appeared on their behalf said they wanted to put it on the record that they did not know Yeo would not be returning to Singapore after his work trip, according to CNA.
Yeo denied embezzling money
Yeo first announced his intention to seek political asylum in the UK via Instagram Stories on Jul. 30.
He commented on the current situation in another series of Instagram Stories posted on Aug. 3.
Apparently referring to the investigation into Whitefield Law Corporation, Yeo denied that he embezzled money.
One post appeared to show a new outfit which he apparently sarcastically commented was "bought with embezzled money".
Screenshot via Charles Yeo on Instagram.
"For those who know me they will know that the suggestion that I could have embezzled these small sums of money is unthinkable," he wrote.
"I MEAN I'm not super rich but I don't have to do all this. Almighty God is my witness I didn't take a single cent," he continued, saying that he was stressed to the point of contemplating suicide because of "all these false accusations".
Expects lengthy "legal battle" over extradition
Yeo also said he expects to go through "a very long fight" in the UK judicial system, should the authorities in Singapore request his extradition from the UK.
"Check out how long [WikiLeaks founder Julian] Assange's legal battle was," said Yeo.
He also said he would "need to disguise [himself] like [Argentine Marxist revolutionary] Che Guevara did" to supposedly avoid getting kidnapped, adding that he "would prefer not to meet up with any Singaporean that I do not trust for now".
Top image via Charles Yeo on Instagram