Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Truffle oil supplier convicted of bribing Omakase Burger’s head chef with cash, red packets

SINGAPORE — The director of a food distribution company was found guilty on Friday (Oct 22) of 30 charges of bribing the head chef of popular burger chain Omakase Burger with cash, red packets and branded items.

The court heard that Edmund Chan Yong Ann made regular cash payments to the head chef of Omakase Burger to ensure it chose his firm to supply the chain with truffle oil.

The court heard that Edmund Chan Yong Ann made regular cash payments to the head chef of Omakase Burger to ensure it chose his firm to supply the chain with truffle oil.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

  • Edmund Chan Yong Ann, 45, was found guilty of 30 corruption charges
  • He had bribed the head chef of a burger chain so that the chef would buy truffle oil from him
  • He had just started his food distribution company and knew this arrangement would be highly profitable
  • He gave Hoe Kim Tick S$7,200 in cash, branded items and red packets
  • He will return to court on Nov 8 for mitigation and sentencing

 

SINGAPORE — The director of a food distribution company was found guilty on Friday (Oct 22) of 30 charges of bribing the head chef of burger chain Omakase Burger with cash, red packets and branded items.

Edmund Chan Yong Ann, 45, was the founder of Orchard Hills, which imported and supplied various gourmet food items to restaurants, including truffle oil. He had claimed trial to the bribery charges.

Chan got to know Hoe Kim Tick — then the head chef of Omakase, who managed kitchen inventory and ordered supplies — in late 2014.

Prosecutors said that upon learning that Omakase used significant quantities of truffle oil, Chan knew that selling the product to it would be highly profitable and he could grow his “small” business considerably.

Chan also believed the best way to secure the Omakase account was to offer Hoe rewards for buying truffle oil from him. It had the largest profit margin in the company’s inventory.

Between February 2015 and January 2017, Chan gave Hoe corrupt gratification in the form of monthly sums of S$300 in cash 24 times — amounting to S$7,200.

Chan handed over the money at the smoking area at Turf City, where Hoe first worked, before doing it at the smoking area at Wisma Atria shopping mall when Hoe moved to work at the outlet there.

He had initially offered to pay Hoe 5 per cent of each truffle oil order that Omakase placed with Orchard Hills. This was before Hoe’s boss conducted a taste test which resulted in the chain deciding to hire the firm as its truffle oil supplier.

Chan later changed the arrangement, citing difficulty in computing the 5 per cent figure, and offered Hoe S$300 a month.

He also gave the chef two red packets containing S$188 and S$80 respectively, a bottle of cognac worth about S$1,000, a Masamato knife worth about S$150, a Louis Vuitton belt worth around S$300 to S$400, and a Bottega Veneta wallet worth about S$300.

A former Orchard Hills employee gave testimony about the corrupt arrangements, saying the payments were made in cash so they would be untraceable.

In his defence, Chan claimed he had employed Hoe as an independent consultant for Orchard Hills three days a month for S$100 a day, which would explain the S$300 monthly payments.

The prosecution noted that there was a complete lack of documentary evidence to substantiate this allegation, and Hoe had categorically denied being a consultant.

In June 2018, Hoe was fined S$35,000 and ordered to pay a penalty of S$7,476 after pleading guilty to taking bribes from Chan.

Chan also argued that the valuable items were to thank Hoe for their friendship and his help with Orchard Hills, and that the red packets were simply customary auspicious Chinese New Year gifts.

The prosecution said this did not explain why Hoe received more money than others whom Chan had given red packets, nor why he claimed in his police statement that he gave Hoe the red packets to thank him for supporting Orchard Hills.

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau began probing the pair in February 2017.

Chan will return to court on Nov 8 for mitigation and sentencing. He remains out on bail of S$10,000.

Those convicted of corruptly giving gratification can be jailed for up to five years or fined up to S$100,000, or punished with both.

Lifestyle outlet 8 Days reported earlier this year that Omakase Burger, which specialises in American-style gourmet burgers, will temporarily cease operating here from Oct 27 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Related topics

court crime corruption

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.