[SINGAPORE] Singapore Kitchen Equipment (SKE) said chief executive Chua Chwee Choo and senior manager Koh Sai Eng were kept in their positions despite being charged with fraud and falsifying accounts because the criminal case has yet to be concluded.<\/p>\n
In response to queries from the Singapore Exchange, SKE said its nominating committee and board will update their assessment when there are key developments in the court proceedings, including the conclusion of the prosecution by the Commercial Affairs Department.<\/p>\n
In a filing on Wednesday (June 11), SKE said the charges do not allege that the two women had intended to make financial gains at the expense of third parties, nor had they intended to facilitate any criminal breach of trust and\/or fraudulent transactions with third parties and\/or cause any financial loss to any party.<\/p>\n
It said internal auditors have confirmed that all gaps had been plugged, and its statutory auditors have not detected any recurrence of control lapses since the financial year ended December 31, 2021.<\/p>\n
SKE noted the company\u2019s recent operational stability, having recorded net profit positions for the 2023 and 2024 financial years, alongside net current assets and positive operating cash inflows for 2025.<\/p>\n
The Catalist-listed company – which has been suspended from trading for almost five years — also provided a brief update on its corporate governance.<\/p>\n
Following the departure of independent director Choo Kok Kiong in May, its audit and risk management committee currently operates with two independent directors.<\/p>\n
The charges against Chua and Koh stem from a single transaction out of the eight previously flagged in a fact-finding review. According to the company, the charges allege that former chief financial officer Chow Mei Ling, Chua and Koh conspired to mislead external auditors, BDO. Chow has been slapped with similar charges.<\/p>\n
The executives are accused of falsifying 102 payment vouchers to fraudulently represent that a S$741,721.55 bonus payment \u2013 made by majority shareholder QKE Holdings on behalf of main operating subsidiary Q\u2019son Kitchen Equipment \u2013 was paid in January 2020, instead of the actual payment date of January 2019.<\/p>\n