Two chefs fined and ordered to pay penalties for accepting bribes from bakery owner
Patrick Yeo Teck Gin (left) and Chow Pak Chow (right) were both fined and ordered to pay a penalty on Friday for corruption.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
Published 18 September 2015
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent
SINGAPORE - Two hotel chefs accepted bribes from a bakery owner in return for continuing to place orders with the company.
On Friday, Chow Pak Chow, 55, and Patrick Yeo Teck Gin, 48 were both fined and ordered to pay a penalty on Friday for corruption. The duo each faced 64 charges and pleaded guilty to 12 counts each.
Chow, then a chef at the Sun Cafe in Hotel Grand Pacific, was fined a total of $12,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of $14,240 - the total amount of bribes he took from Mr Simon Tay Kong Beng, owner of Baker's Heaven.
Baker's Heaven makes and supplies cakes, bread and other pastries for hotels, clubs, cafes and restaurants.
Yeo, who was an executive chef at Bayview Hotel, was fined a total of $6,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of $5,255. He accepted the bribes from Mr Tay's wife, Madam Koh Li Li, the sales manager of Baker's Heaven.
The court heard that Mr Tay offered Chow a share of profits if he continued to use Baker's House as the hotel's supplier. Chow agreed.
The payments took place between November 2008 and January last year , and were dependent on the sales received from each hotel, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Andre Jumabhoy.
Mr Tay made monthly transfers from his POSB savings account to Chow's bank account. Chow also received extra payments during Chinese New Year.
In the case of Yeo, he told investigators that Madam Koh offered to "give him some commissions" if he continued to use Baker's House as the hotel's supplier. He agreed.
He admitted to receiving commissions once a month and understood that the payments were for him to continue supporting Baker's House by ordering pastries from the company instead of other suppliers.
The maximum penalty for corruption is a $100,000 fine and five years' jail.
