Singapore Kitchen Equipment CEO, ex-CFO charged with fraud, falsification of accounts

In a press release on Wednesday, the Singapore Police Force said the trio allegedly conspired to falsify more than 100 of the company’s payment vouchers to make it appear that the bonuses had been paid in January 2020, when they had not.

Chow also faces other charges for alleged offences in related transactions, said the police.

Among the charges are allegations that Chow, between 2018 and 2019, willfully omitted a total of eight payments, including the bonuses, from Q’son’s accounts for the financial years that ended on Dec 31, 2018, and Dec 31, 2019.

These eight payments totalled about S$1.4 million.

Subsequently, Chow allegedly made further false entries to include the eight payments in Q’son’s accounts for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2020.

The police added that following Chow’s alleged falsification of Q’son’s accounts, Singapore Kitchen Equipment purportedly made false statements about the company’s profitability in its financial statements for FY2018 to FY2020. According to the police, these offences under the Securities and Futures Act were committed with Chow’s consent.

All three women were represented by lawyers, who sought an adjournment to take instructions from their clients.

Chua’s lawyer said her client would be making an application to travel overseas.

Their cases will return to court on Jul 1.

For fraud by false representation, an offender may face up to 20 years’ jail, a fine, or both.

Those convicted of falsifying accounts may be jailed up to 10 years’ jail, fined, or both, while those found guilty of forgery may be jailed up to four years, fined, or both.

The offence of making false or misleading statements under the SFA carries a jail term of up to seven years, a fine of up to S$250,000, or both.