June 4, 2024
SINGAPORE – The man suspected of killing Singaporean Audrey Fang has been confirmed as a beneficiary of her Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings, a Spanish media outlet reported on June 3.
Singaporean Mitchell Ong, 43, was arrested in Alicante in Spain nearly a week after Ms Fang, 39, was found dead with more than 30 stab wounds and other injuries on April 10.
A court in the town of Cieza heard that Singapore’s CPF Board confirmed on May 16 that Ms Fang had named Ong as a beneficiary of her savings, supporting suspicions of an economic motive behind the murder, according to La Verdad.
In April, the Civil Guard, one of two national police forces, had found a note on Ms Fang’s iPad that declared a decision to name a “long-time friend and trusted confidant” as the recipient of her CPF savings in the event of her death.
The note also granted the beneficiary a “friendly loan of US$50,000 (S$68,000) based on our friendship in the past”, separate from the CPF nomination.
According to her family, Ms Fang had accumulated up to €340,000 (S$498,000) in her CPF accounts, the Spanish daily revealed.
A CPF Board spokesperson told The Straits Times on June 3 that the board did not receive any requests from the Spanish authorities, but it had disclosed the late Ms Fang’s nomination details to her next of kin.
When CPF nominations are contested posthumously, the board will withhold the distribution of the deceased member’s CPF savings until investigations are completed, said the spokesperson.
“If the nomination is found to be invalid, CPF savings will generally be distributed based on an earlier nomination if any, or according to intestacy laws,” the spokesperson added.
The police in Spain have been investigating a possible economic motive behind Ms Fang’s death.
In October 2023, Ms Fang and Ong had an exchange on WhatsApp, in which he thanked the Singaporean architect for naming him as the beneficiary of her savings, according to La Verdad.
Previously, the court had requested Singapore to provide banking, property and economic information on both Ong and the victim.
Ms Fang’s family told ST that in their attempt to understand her relationship with Ong, they found letters showing Ms Fang had bought two investment-linked policies from insurer AIA through Ong in 2015.
According to an old LinkedIn profile, which is no longer available, the suspect was a financial planner at Manulife Singapore between 2011 and 2013, and had worked at AIA Singapore between 2014 and 2019.
Two people close to Ms Fang, who were proposed by the lawyer representing her family, have testified in the case, the La Verdad newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, the Civil Guard is analysing a terabyte of information from the hard drives belonging to Ong and Ms Fang, as well as information extracted from Ong’s phone.
According to the Spanish news outlet, the court has said there is clear, objective evidence of the suspect’s participation in the murder.
These have emerged from the camera recordings, data provided by telephone operators and “multiple well-founded suspicions”.