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SINGAPORE: Former CEO and founder of Surrey Hills Holdings, Pang Gek Teng, was charged in court on Friday (May 29) over embezzling more than S$242,000 between 2023 and 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n The 37-year-old Singaporean <\/span>was fired from the company<\/span> on Mar 26 last year following her alleged admission to fraud and other misconduct involving the company, which runs the Australian-inspired Surrey Hills Grocer. Pang, a former banker, founded the chain in 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n She was handed 12 charges at the State Courts, comprising nine counts of cheating, one count of forgery, one count of attempted cheating and one count of criminal breach of trust.<\/span><\/p>\n While a key executive officer of Surrey Hill Holdings, Pang is said to have misappropriated S$242,738.11 on various occasions from Apr 3, 2023, to Feb 28, 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n The bulk of Pang’s cheating charges involved a woman whom she allegedly cheated of more than S$400,000.<\/span><\/p>\n Pang allegedly deceived the woman into believing that S$50,000 was needed for bail payments and lawyer fees for a person known as Desmond, on Feb 12, 2018. As a result, the woman allegedly transferred the funds to Pang.<\/span><\/p>\n Charge sheets state that Pang had passed herself off as Desmond and also pretended to be a person known as Derrick.<\/span><\/p>\n In the same manner, Pang is said to have duped the woman into transferring another S$40,000 on Feb 22, 2018, and S$35,763 on May 29, 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n Pang also allegedly deceived the woman into believing that a private investigator had reported seeing her husband at a bank in Serangoon Gardens enquiring about her account and funds on multiple occasions in 2018 and 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n Pang supposedly tricked the woman into believing that her money was at risk of being frozen and should be transferred to Derrick for safekeeping. She allegedly cheated the woman into transferring around S$282,000 through this scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n Pang also allegedly tricked a second woman into believing that she was Orchard Turn Developments CEO Yeo Mui Hong on several occasions in March 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n From December 2023 to February 2024, Pang allegedly attempted to cheat a third woman into believing that Orchard Turn Developments had made three bulk orders of hampers worth S$813,541.60 to Surrey Hills Holdings. This allegedly caused the woman to generate two invoices for the purported orders.<\/span><\/p>\n Pang is also accused of forging an electronic invoice from AC Global Consulting to cheat the third woman into transferring S$20,000 to her on Jan 2, 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n Her case has been adjourned to Jul 10.<\/span><\/p>\n If convicted of cheating, Pang may be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. She faces the same maximum penalty for forgery.<\/span><\/p>\n