Singapore Kitchen Equipment retains CEO after charges linked to CAD probe

Chua Chwee Choo and two others were charged for allegedly conspiring to make false representations to auditors.

SINGAPORE – Singapore Kitchen Equipment’s (SKE) chief executive and a senior manager will remain in their roles despite having been charged in connection with a Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) investigation into alleged falsification of accounts and false representations made to auditors.

In a June 4 filing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), the Catalist-listed company said CEO and executive director Chua Chwee Choo and senior manager Koh Sai Eng were served with the charges under the Penal Code and the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) on June 2.

Former chief financial officer Chow Mei Ling was also charged, according to a separate June 3 statement by the Singapore Police Force (SPF).

Despite the charges, SKE said in its SGX statement that its nominating committee and board believe it is in the company’s best interests for both Chua and Koh to remain in their positions. It cited additional safeguards and measures which have been implemented as part of its enhancements to the company’s internal controls.

“The board expects that the business of the group will continue normally, as the court proceedings are not expected to disrupt the operations of the group,” the statement said.

The trio were charged for allegedly engaging in a conspiracy between February and March 2021 to make false representations to SKE’s auditor, BDO, in relation to bonuses paid by SKE’s subsidiary, Q’son Kitchen Equipment (QKE).

To lend credence to these false representations, the trio allegedly conspired to falsify more than 100 payment vouchers belonging to QKE to purport that the bonuses were paid in January 2020, when this was not the case, SPF said.

Chow also faces other charges for alleged offences in related transactions. These include charges which alleged that between 2018 and 2019, Chow willfully omitted a total of eight payments, which included the payment of the bonuses, from QKE’s accounts for the financial years (FY) 2018 and 2019.

Subsequently, Chow allegedly made further false entries to include the eight payments in QKE’s accounts for FY2020.

Following Chow’s alleged falsification of QKE’s accounts, SKE purportedly made false statements relating to the company’s profitability in announcements of its financial statements for FY2018 to FY2020.

These false statements are the subject matter of offences under the SFA – committed with Chow’s consent, and Chow was thus charged with offences under the SFA.