KUALA LUMPUR: A lawyer who fled Singapore while out on bail for criminal charges has been arrested by the authorities in the United Kingdom.
Singapore's The Straits Times reported that Charles Yeo Yao Hui was detained on Nov 4, more than a year after Singaporean authorities sent a request to the UK, in October last year, seeking his extradition.
Yeo, a former Reform Party chairman, was wanted for abetment of cheating over funds released to his law form as a settlement for his client's claim.
He had been first taken to court in January 2022 over an unrelated charge of wounding the religious feelings of the Christian community by posting remarks on his social media pages, as well as posting a series of Instagram stories with abusive remarks against a particular police officer.
According to The Straits Times, Yeo was hit with six charges altogether for purported acts carried out between November 2020 and February 2021.
However, in July 2022, Yeo was given permission to leave Singapore for Vietnam to meet a witness for a trial he was handling at the time.
He was offered bail, which was paid by his mother.
Yeo was supposed to return to Singapore later that month but did not return, later posting on social media he was seeking asylum in the UK.
In a statement to The Straits Times on Nov 13, the Singapore Attorney-General's Chambers said: "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.
"As the matter is pending judicial proceedings, it would not be appropriate for us to comment on the matter."