Baker fined, penalised for accepting bribes
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 06 September 2011 2010 hrs
SINGAPORE: While most bakers would choose only the best ingredients to make their cakes, a district court Tuesday heard that 41-year-old Koh Soon Chye from Thomson Cake and Confectionery had done the complete opposite.
He accepted more than S$7,000 in bribes from one of his suppliers, Seng Hong Co, in exchange for buying weevil-infested flour.
For committing the offence, Koh was fined S$40,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of S$7,020.
Should he fail to pay these amounts, he would have to spend 19 weeks behind bars.
Koh pleaded guilty to four graft charges while seven other similar ones were taken into consideration.
The court heard that Seng Hong had a stock of flour in 2008 which were later found to be contaminated with weevils.
As a result, the flour could not be exported.
Its general manager, Toh Lee Tao allegedly asked one of his colleagues, Ang Kim Lian to sell off the stock in Singapore.
It's believed Ang approached Koh and persuaded him to buy the contaminated flour, offering him S$2 for every bag Koh ordered.
Koh agreed.
Court documents stated that Koh had asked Ang to sift the flour to remove the weevils before delivering the stock to Thomson Cake and Confectionery.
Ang allegedly told Toh about the plan and it's believed the general manager approved it.
It's believed Toh also directed Ang to inform his company's then finance manager, Lee Yen Ken about the matter so that she could proceed to pay the illegal commissions to Koh.
The two men also allegedly instructed their former accounts executive, Wong Mei Poh to issue payment vouchers to support payments of the illegal transactions made to Koh.
Koh paid some S$58,000 for more than 2,200 bags of contaminated flour, bought between August 2008 and March 2009.
MediaCorp understands that the other parties haven't been charged in court for their alleged roles in the crime.
- CNA/cc
