Owner of Thai restaurant chain in S’pore allegedly vanishes after changing hands, supplier unable to recover over S$160K in debts

Supplier loses more than S$160,ooo after owner of Thai eatery chain goes missing

A frozen food supplier in Singapore incurred over S$160,000 in unpaid debt after the owner of a Thai restaurant chain in Singapore went missing.

The restaurant operator had reportedly disappeared after an unexpected ownership transfer of the food establishment.

Supplier had worked with Thai restaurant chain for 6 years

The alleged victim, He Zhenzhu (name transliterated from Chinese), 43, runs Ocean Harvest Frozen Food Ltd, which primarily supplies frozen seafood and meat to major restaurants and food court stalls in Singapore.

Since 2019, he has been working with SOI 47 TWO Pte Ltd — a company that operates Thai and bak kut teh restaurants, according to Shin Min Daily News.

“In the past, orders were placed by the company’s manager, Mr Hong (surname transliterated from Chinese), with monthly payments paid on time. Our partnership ran smoothly for years,” Mr He said.

However, since last September, the other party allegedly began defaulting on payments. Mr He said the finance executive kept refusing payment, claiming their manager was abroad or that there were no cheques available.

The debt persisted until Dec 2024, when Mr Hong admitted cash flow issues and promised monthly repayments from that month.

Supplier allowed payment by instalments on account of long-term relationship

Considering their long-term working relationship, Mr He agreed to monthly instalments of about S$20,000 to S$30,000.

This continued until August this year, when the other party stopped making payments again and became uncontactable.

After checking, Mr He found out that Mr Hong had landed himself in prison. He also learned that the registered director was only a “nominee director.”

Mr Hong had run the business previously, but most of the restaurants had now closed. The three remaining restaurants were also sold, leaving no repayment possible.

Mr He pointed out that he was owed over S$160,000 in unpaid goods accumulated over six months.

He felt angry and helpless that no one was accountable and said he does not intend to work with the company’s new owners.

Learned an expensive lesson after owner went missing

“I hope this serves as a warning to my peers — don’t extend credit lightly, and make sure to understand your clients’ business situation to avoid repeating the same mistakes.”

Mr He has also lodged a police report regarding the outstanding debts owed by Mr Hong’s company.

Mr He also shared that the company has set a clear limit: any client with debt exceeding S$120,000 will have their supply suspended.

He said Mr Hong was allowed to delay payment due to years of collaboration and mutual trust built during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I didn’t expect it to end up like this. I’ll take this as an expensive lesson and be more cautious in future.”

In response to MS News queries, the police confirmed that reports were lodged.