Woman, 39, accused of embezzling S$1.7 million from late S'pore businessman, 73, says they were lovers & that the money was a gift

A 39-year-old woman accused of embezzling more than S$1.7 million from a businessman in his 70s has claimed that she was in a long-term relationship with him and that the money was given to her voluntarily before his death.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, Zhou Yansong (transliteration), who ran the seafood wholesale business Evergreen Seafood, passed away in September 2024 at the age of 73.

His daughter, Zhou Wenfeng, who is the executor of his estate, has sued the woman, Sun Beibei, for breach of fiduciary duty and is seeking to recover S$1,711,000.

The case went to trial in August and is ongoing.

Sun, who is from Qingdao, China, claimed that she was Zhou's girlfriend and that the pair had been in a relationship for 10 years.

Worked at a maid agency before going to Zhou's company

According to the plaintiff's case, Sun came to Singapore in 2012 and worked at a maid agency, Zaobao reported.

She met Zhou while he was looking for a domestic helper.

The following year, Sun began working part-time at Zhou's company before becoming a full-time employee, where she handled marketing and administrative duties.

She subsequently became one of Zhou's most trusted associates and the two were frequently seen together.

Sun was later appointed a director of the company, though she was not given any shares and was not authorised to sign on the company's bank accounts.

Zhou was diagnosed with cancer

According to Zaobao, in December 2022, Zhou was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer.

His condition deteriorated over the following year.

By May 2024, the cancer had spread to his pancreas and lungs, and doctors told him that he had less than six months to live, according to court documents.

By then, Zhou was described as very weak. He could barely speak, was unable to write, and had difficulty walking on his own.

He was admitted to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in August 2024 and remained there until his death.

The plaintiff alleged that about two months before Zhou died, Sun began keeping his mobile phone and wallet, which contained two debit cards, for him.

Knowing how much Zhou trusted Sun, his family also trusted her to remain by his side and care for him.

However, the plaintiff alleged that between June and September 2024, while Zhou was seriously ill, Sun withdrew and transferred money from his bank accounts without his authorisation.

More than S$1.7 million withdrawn

According to the plaintiff's case, Sun used bank drafts and several blank cheques that Zhou had signed in advance to withdraw a total of S$1.625 million from two of his bank accounts, Zaobao reported.

She is also accused of using two bank cards to make cash withdrawals totalling S$86,000 between Aug. 12 and Sep. 5, 2024.

The plaintiff alleged that Sun went to Paragon Shopping Centre almost every day, which is opposite the hospital, to make the withdrawals.

On each occasion, the amount withdrawn was close to or reached the daily withdrawal limit, the court heard.

In total, she allegedly withdrew another S$86,000.

The two accounts had originally contained more than S$1 million in savings.

However, on the day before Zhou's death, only slightly more than S$10,000 remained, according to the plaintiff's case.

In his opening statement, the plaintiff's lawyer said Zhou had depended heavily on Sun during the final months of his life and that she had betrayed the trust him and his family had placed in her.

The lawyer argued that Zhou extremely weak at the time and could not possibly have left the hospital to make the withdrawals.

There was also no reason for him to use such a large amounts of cash, the lawyer added.

The plaintiff's lawyer also pointed to a will Zhou made while in hospital, in which he left his bank savings to his wife and daughter.

As such, the lawyer argued, it was unlikely that he had intended to give the money to Sun, as the defence claimed.

Chat history allegedly deleted

According to Zaobao, the plaintiff further alleged that shortly after Zhou's funeral, Sun deliberately deleted the text message history between herself and Zhou before returning his phone to the family.

After the family recovered the phone, they discovered that there were no text message notifications from either of the two banks concerning the numerous cash withdrawals.

When Zhou's daughter questioned Sun, she admitted to making the withdrawals but was vague about where the money had gone.

Woman alleged the money was a gift

When Sun took the witness stand on Sep. 1 and 2, she denied the allegations and maintained that she and Zhou were in a romantic relationship, Zaobao reported.

She claimed the relationship was an "open secret" and that the money was a voluntary gift from Zhou, intended to ensure that she could live comfortably after his death.

According to Sun, the two began dating in 2014 and lived together in a company-owned residence in eastern Singapore, where she took care of Zhou's daily needs.

She said Zhou had a strained relationship with his wife and only contacted his daughter occasionally.

As such, she voluntarily took on the role of caring for Zhou during the latter part of his life.

She said their relationship was an "open secret", and that Zhou's daughter and wife should have known about it.

She claimed that Zhou told her he was concerned about how she would support herself in Singapore after his death.

After learning that he had only about six months to live, Sun said Zhou told her:

"We’ve been together for such a long time. I’m very worried about how you’ll live in Singapore after I’m gone. I hope you won’t have to worry about money in the future. I’ll buy you a house, so you’ll have a home of your own… But no one can know that I’m giving you this money."

Sun said that she filled in the amounts and her own name on the cheques at Zhou’s instructions.

On one occasion, she said, Zhou asked her to hold his hand and use it to sign one of the cheques.

Sun said she had tried to stop him, telling him, "Boss, you can’t write it like this," but Zhou replied, "If I tell you to hold my hand, then hold it."

Two months after Zhou’s death, Sun used money from his bank deposits to purchase an apartment.