Two chefs plead guilty to accepting bribes from seafood supplier

SINGAPORE : Two senior chefs on Friday pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from a seafood supplier.

They are among 19 chefs alleged to have accepted nearly S$1 million in kickbacks from seafood supplier Wealthy Seafood Product and Enterprise.

The offences are said to have occurred between 2006 and 2009.

Tay Ee Tiong, owner of Wealthy Seafood, was jailed 18 months in September 2011 for bribing 19 chefs from 17 hotels and restaurants, with the amount totalling S$992,404.

In the docks on Friday were former senior Chinese chef of the Hilton hotel, Go Choon Heng, and then master chef of Sichuan Douhua Restaurant, Ng Wai Tong.

Go faced two charges of accepting a total of S$4,496 from Tay between March and June 2009, while Ng faced three charges of accepting a total of S$5,811 between March and August 2009.

The prosecution proceeded with one charge for each of the men.

According to court documents, Go got to know Tay sometime in late 2008, when Tay held his son’s wedding at the Hilton hotel.

Tay then asked Go to get Hilton hotel to use shark fins supplied by Wealthy Seafood.

In early 2009, Tay contacted Go and invited him for drinks.

There, he proposed to pay Go a commission if he was able to get Hilton hotel to purchase seafood products from him.

Go agreed to the offer, got Tay to send the products to the hotel for tasting, and subsequently made a recommendation.

Based on Go’s recommendation, Hilton hotel purchased the seafood products from Tay’s company.

Go later collected about S$2,500 from Tay as inducement to continue to show favour to Tay’s company.

Similarly in Ng’s case, Tay contacted him to ask if he could promote his seafood products at the restaurant, which is located at Parkroyal Hotel Beach Road, for the Lunar New Year period.

He also said he would reward Ng if he succeeded in getting the restaurant to order seafood products from Wealthy Seafood.

Tay was similarly asked to send some samples to the restaurant for tasting, and Ng proceeded to recommend Tay’s products.

Ng also collected a red packet containing about S$3,700 from Tay later.

Both men could be jailed up to five years and fined up to S$100,000.

They will be sentenced on January 15.

— CNA/ms