by Elena Chong
A SEAFOOD supplier was brought to court on Tuesday for corruptly
giving bribes totalling about $992,000 to 19 chefs.
Tay Ee Tiong, 55, owner of Wealthy Seafood Product and
Enterprise, is the first to be charged, following a 2009 probe by
the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau into more than 20 top
chefs who allegedly accepted the kickbacks.
Tay, who faces 223 charges, is said to have given bribes of
between $232 and $24,143 between 2006 and 2009 to chefs of popular
Chinese restaurants and five-star hotels to advance his company's
business by ensuring that they continued to buy seafood products
from his company.
The chefs were from 17 restaurants. Among them are PFS Pte Ltd,
Shangri-La Hotel, Meritus Mandarin, Marriott Hotel, Goodwood Park
Hotel, Grand Hyatt, Four Seasons Hotel, Sheraton Hotel and Por Kee
Eating House.
In 10 charges, Tay allegedly conspired with Leung Wing Hoi, then
Shangri-La's Chinese banquet chef, to hand over bribes amounting to
$32,137 to its executive chef Peter Tsung Kang Hung between 2007
and 2009, to advance Wealthy Seafood's business interest.
Mr Choo Si Sen is representing Tay, who is on $30,000 bail. The
case was adjourned to April 21 for a pre-trial conference. If
convicted, Tay faces a fine of up to $100,000 and/or a jail term of
up to five years on each charge.
