Singapore Kitchen Equipment now says CEO and senior manager were arrested

SINGAPORE - Catalist-listed Singapore Kitchen Equipment (SKE) said its chief executive Sally Chua and senior manager Charlene Koh had been arrested by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), a day after saying that the pair had not been arrested.

Chua and Koh are being investigated for possible offences under section 417 of the Penal Code, which sets out penalties for cheating, SKE said in a bourse filing on Friday (June 16).

SKE said on Wednesday that Chua and Koh had been released on bail after being interviewed by the CAD.

The company said the pair were being investigated under the Penal Code, but did not elaborate.

In response to queries raised by the Singapore Exchange (SGX), SKE in a Thursday announcement stated that Chua and Koh had not been arrested, and that the interviews were scheduled.

The company also said, in response to SGX queries, that the pair’s passports had been surrendered to the CAD.

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The next day, SKE further announced that it had clarified with the CAD, and Chua and Koh had indeed been arrested.

The company said that the CAD probe arose from the outcome of a fact-finding review by law firm Rajah & Tann involving eight payments amounting to $1.4 million.

The payments had been made by SKE’s majority shareholder, QKE Holdings, on behalf of the company’s main operating subsidiary, Q’son Kitchen Equipment (QKE).

Rajah & Tann’s review found that “certain employees of QKE had altered… documents unilaterally, without instructions from, and knowledge and/or approval by the executive directors, including the CEO”.

Chua and Koh’s bail is scheduled to be renewed on June 28.

Trading in SKE shares has been suspended since August 2021.