Singapore woman travelled to Romania to meet online boyfriend
(Screenshot from ProTV)
The young Singaporean woman who travelled to Romania with her mother without informing the rest of her family has broken her silence.
Speaking to Romanian TV reporters, Cheryl Yap Lay Leng, 25, told Romanian news channel Pro TV that she came to Romanian “to meet my boyfriend to work together on YouTube”.
Both Donea and Yap are fans of Japanese anime. A YouTube channel believed to be created by Donea features several anime music videos and has over 150,000 subscribers.
According to Pro TV, Yap met a Romanian man online two years ago. The man, Alexandru Donea, invited Yap to visit Romania. Yap and her mother were staying with Donea and his parents, who do not speak English.
The video clip showed Yap and her mother being interviewed in Donea’s home.
(Screenshot from ProTV)
Family members told Chinese daily Shin Min on 1 Feb that Yap and her mother Foo Li Kheng, 61, departed for Romania’s capital Bucharest on 22 Jan. They left without informing the rest of the family.
Romania’s police force said the two were located in a commune called Vulturesti, and posted a photo of them on the national police force’s Facebook page. The police confirmed they were not the victims of any crime. Vulturesti is located about two and half hours’ drive from Bucharest.
A news report on Romanian news site Libertatea said Yap was meeting a man she met online. Yap had with her four bank passbooks containing savings of at least S$40,000.
Yap’s father, who gave his name only as Mr Yap, told the Chinese daily the only details he found out about the trip was when he saw his daughter’s credit card bill, which showed a return date of 16 April. He was also told by his daughter’s company that she did not apply for annual leave.
