From February 2020 to September 2020, a fish supplier bribed an NTUC FairPrice team leader so the latter would buy more fish from him.
The supplier also conspired with his boss, who agreed to pay the team leader to buy fish from their company.
On Monday (13 Feb), 44-year-old Ngow Chun Siong pleaded guilty to one count of bribery, and was sentenced to seven months’ jail.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Ngow, a Malaysia, worked at Fish Vision Agrotech. The company sold fish wholesale, and operated a stall at the Jurong Fishery Port.
Ngow was the stall’s supervisor, and his tasks included transporting fish, selling, and packaging them.
For each kilogram of fish sold, he would receive a commission of three to five cents. This commission fee made up at least 30% to 50% of his base pay.
Source: Jakub Kapusnak on Unsplash
Besides that, he had to complete a profit and loss report every day. This would include the amount of fish purchased from suppliers, sales to customers, and his personal claims for parking and labour.
The NTUC FairPrice team leader was 48-year-old Lim Kian Kok, reports CNA.
From July 2013 to October 2020, he worked as a senior team leader, facilitating the night-buying operations at the Jurong Fishery Port.
His tasks included buying fish and seafood from suppliers, depending on the types and amounts needed by each FairPrice outlet for the day.
As a senior team leader, Lim could decide the supplier and the amount to purchase.
Since the price was already fixed between NTUC FairPrice and the suppliers, he simply needed to make purchases based on the quality of the supplier’s service and fish.
Furthermore, he could also decide whether to buy the supplier’s goods when there was an oversupply at a cheaper price.
Fish Vision’s largest customer was NTUC FairPrice, reports CNA.
Apart from that, the duo became acquainted after Lim started working for NTUC FairPrice at Jurong Fishery Port.
In February 2020, Ngow asked Lim if he could buy more fish from them. The latter then asked what he would receive in return, and implied that he would buy the fish if Ngow gave him money.
As he wanted to earn more commission, he discussed the matter with his boss, 47-year-old Chew Kim Hwee.
Subsequently, Chew agreed to pay Lim 20 cents for each kilogram of fish he bought from Fish Vision.
Lim agreed to the offer, and their arrangement lasted from February 2020 to September 2020.
To claim the bribes, Ngow would submit claims for “labour charges for packing of fish” in his daily reports.
Chew was the mastermind behind this idea to hide the corrupt transactions.
Fish Vision’s administrative manager would process the claims, and he would approve them. Ngow would receive these claims from the petty cash account every month.
During this period, Ngow gave eight sums of cash in envelopes to Lim near Jurong Fishery Port.
The amount ranged from S$2,320 and S$4,150 and was almost S$25,000 in total.
After the bribes, Lim purchased 200kg to 400kg more fish per day from Fish Vision for NTUC FairPrice. Before the arrangement, he would only buy 200kg of fish per day.
In return, he also gave Ngow half the amount of bribes he received. This totalled around S$12,500.
In court, the prosecution asked for eight to 12 months’ jail for Ngow’s bribery charge.
Meanwhile, his lawyer said that he was merely an employee who was “driven by commissions”. Ngow accepted that it was his greed that led to the situation, and the cover-up of the bribes was on his boss, the director.
Lim and Chew’s cases are still pending.
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Featured image adapted from Nguyen Linh on Unsplash.
The authorities have investigated and closed the incident with no follow-ups required, MFA said.
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