Four top chefs charged with corruption
Four top chefs from luxury hotels in S’pore were charged with corruption on Friday close to a S$1 million kickback case involving the former boss of a seafood supplier.
Tan Ah Teng from Goodwood Park Hotel's Min Jiang restaurant, Chik Ka Chung from Marriott Hotel's Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant, Yang Lai Fatt from Meritus Mandarin Hotel and Goh Wooi Cheat from Regent Hotel's Summer Palace were charged for accepting money from Tay Ee Tiong, the former boss of Wealthy Seafood Product and Enterprise, reported local media.
The four are among 19 chefs alleged to have accepted bribes from the 57-year-old Tay to ensure their restaurants would continue buying seafood products from his company.
Tay was sentenced to 18 months' jail in September last year after pleading guilty to giving nearly S$1 million in bribes to various chefs from top hotels across Singapore. It was revealed in court last year that he had approached the chefs and promised them commissions based on 5 to 10 per cent of the total value of seafood products purchased. He would then hand the money in cash to the chefs every few months.
Tan, currently still working as Min Jiang's chef, faces 20 charges and is accused of accepting over $190,000 from Tay.
Chik faces 21 charges and is accused of accepting over $170,000 from Tay. He has since resigned from Wan Hao restaurant.
Yang faces 15 charges and is accused of accepting nearly $130,000 in kickbacks while Goh faces 14 charges and is accused of accepting almost $160,000. He is currently a chef at Grand Hyatt Beijing and has obtained permission from court to travel there, reports said.
Well-known food critic KF Seetoh told Yahoo! Singapore that such transactions are not unheard of within the food industry.
"Suppliers started giving expensive hampers as appreciation in the past but 'upgraded' to ang pows," Seetoh said.
"[I] have spoken to some of them casually. They were very unassuming and I of course could not tell this was going on in the back," he said.
