SINGAPORE- The Court of Appeal has thrown out an application by Yang Yin to appeal against a wealthy widow's will which leaves most of her assets to charity.

This closes one chapter in the ongoing saga, with Yang unable to submit further appeals against the new statutory will by Madam Chung Khin Chun, which the court recognised in 2015.

The new will replaces an earlier one made in 2010 where Yang stood to inherit everything including the 89-year-old widow's Gerald Crescent bungalow worth $30 million.

In a brief judgment released on Aug 1, Judges of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Andrew Phang stated that the application was dismissed as they could not see any basis for interfering with an earlier decision in the lower courts to recognise the widow's new will.

The court has to act in the "best interests" of Madam Chung in deciding whether or not to recognise the will and this formed the basis for the District Judge's earlier decision, they noted. The judge had found the new will to be "more consistent" with Madam Chung's convictions, values and beliefs.

Yang, 42, had earlier argued that there was a procedural failure in the proceedings as the judge had denied his lawyers the chance to cross-examine witnesses who had given evidence to support the application for the new will.

His appeal was dismissed by the High Court in April this year.

The high-profile case involving Yang and the wealthy widow unfolded in 2014 after Madam Chung's niece, Madam Hedy Mok, evicted Yang's wife, who had been living in her aunt's house for about a year with her two young children.

Separately, Yang is on trial for two criminal breach of trust charges for allegedly misappropriating $1.1 million from Madam Chung.

In May this year, he pleaded guilty to 120 charges- most of which were for immigration offences and faking receipts for payments made to his company so he could stay in Singapore.