FLOUR infested with weevils may not be most people’s idea of the perfect cake ingredient.
But when baker Koh Soon Chye found the grubs in a sample he had been given by a supplier, he decided not to send it back.
In fact, he carried on ordering from the same batch, simply asking the firm to sift it to get rid of the weevils. And he had every reason to do so, as he was being bribed to buy the supplier’s flour.
Yesterday, the 41-year-old was fined $40,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of $7,020, the amount of illegal dough he pocketed. Koh was a chief baker at Thomson Cake & Confectionary in Woodlands, the court heard.
He had been in charge of purchasing flour since 2002, and got to know Mr Ang Kian Lian, a senior sales executive at supplier Seng Hong Company.
This connection is believed to have come in useful in 2008, when Seng Hong was stuck with 1,000 2.25kg bags of flour from Sri Lanka which were infested with weevils and could not be exported. Mr Ang, 48, turned to Koh, offering him $2 for every bag of Sri Lankan flour bought by the bakery, say court documents.
The baker ordered five bags for sampling, and found out about the weevils. He asked for all further flour to be sifted before delivery.
Koh pleaded guilty to four charges of corruption. Asking for leniency, the father of two said he was supporting his own father, who suffers from dementia, and a diabetic mother.
Koh could have been fined up to $100,000 and/or jailed for up to five years on each charge. Mr Ang has not been charged.
But when baker Koh Soon Chye found the grubs in a sample he had been given by a supplier, he decided not to send it back.
In fact, he carried on ordering from the same batch, simply asking the firm to sift it to get rid of the weevils. And he had every reason to do so, as he was being bribed to buy the supplier’s flour.
Yesterday, the 41-year-old was fined $40,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of $7,020, the amount of illegal dough he pocketed. Koh was a chief baker at Thomson Cake & Confectionary in Woodlands, the court heard.
He had been in charge of purchasing flour since 2002, and got to know Mr Ang Kian Lian, a senior sales executive at supplier Seng Hong Company.
This connection is believed to have come in useful in 2008, when Seng Hong was stuck with 1,000 2.25kg bags of flour from Sri Lanka which were infested with weevils and could not be exported. Mr Ang, 48, turned to Koh, offering him $2 for every bag of Sri Lankan flour bought by the bakery, say court documents.
The baker ordered five bags for sampling, and found out about the weevils. He asked for all further flour to be sifted before delivery.
Koh pleaded guilty to four charges of corruption. Asking for leniency, the father of two said he was supporting his own father, who suffers from dementia, and a diabetic mother.
Koh could have been fined up to $100,000 and/or jailed for up to five years on each charge. Mr Ang has not been charged.
