Singapore Kitchen Equipment CEO, ex-CFO charged with fraud, falsification of accounts
Three women are accused of conspiring to falsify more than 100 payment vouchers related to bonus payments to employees.
From left to right: Koh Sai Eng, Chua Chwee Choo, and Chow Mei Ling at the State Courts on Jun 3, 2026. (Photos: CNA/Ili Mansor)
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SINGAPORE: The CEO and executive director of Catalist-listed Singapore Kitchen Equipment Chua Chwee Choo was accused on Wednesday (Jun 3) with falsifying payment vouchers.
Chua 58, was charged in the State Courts alongside former chief financial officer Chow Mei Ling, 56, and senior manager Koh Sai Eng, 68.
Chua, Koh and Chow each face two charges: one of fraud with false representation and another of falsification of accounts. Chow has an additional 10 charges that include forgery and offences under the Securities and Futures Act.
Singapore Kitchen Equipment operates and wholly owns subsidiary Q’son Kitchen Equipment, which manufactures, customises and services kitchen systems and equipment.
The company previously announced on Jun 14, 2023 that Chua and Koh were interviewed by the Commercial Affairs Department as part of its investigations into a potential offence. Chow tendered her resignation from the company on Aug 8, 2021.
The trio is accused of engaging in a conspiracy between February and March 2021 to make false representations to Singapore Kitchen Equipment’s auditor, BDO, over bonuses paid by Q’son.
According to charge sheets, the three women allegedly made false representations to BDO that bonus payments of about S$740,000 (US$579,500) were made to Q’son’s employees in January 2020.
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.
Source: CNA/wt(gr)
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