A 71-year-old former fish wholesale business owner, Lim Poh Heng, was sentenced to eight months in jail and fined $2,000 on February 26 after being found guilty of offering bribes to FairPrice employees. The bribes, totaling nearly $87,000, were given over a period of ten years, from 2010 to 2020, to promote his company’s business interests with the supermarket chain, reported The Straits Times
Lim, the former owner of Kiang Huat Sea Products Co (1998), pleaded guilty to three counts of graft involving $48,600. Six other similar charges were taken into account during sentencing.
Three individuals linked to the case, who were employed by the supermarket chain at the time of the offenses, were previously sentenced in court. In March 2023, Lim Kian Kok was sentenced to four years and five months in jail and ordered to pay a penalty of nearly $290,000. See Hock Lam received a sentence of three years and two months in jail and a penalty of $261,500 in April 2023, while Chua Teow Hym was sentenced to five weeks in jail and fined $2,000 in May 2023, in addition to a penalty of $3,820. These three individuals no longer work for FairPrice.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei stated that Lim Poh Heng had given Lim Kian Kok, also known as Andrew, at least $86,000 in cash in exchange for buying more fish from Kiang Huat Sea Products Co (1998). Lim Kian Kok, who joined FairPrice in 2007 and oversaw its buying operations at Jurong Fishery Port as a senior team leader in 2013, had the authority to choose which suppliers to buy fish and seafood from and how much to buy from them.
Lim Kian Kok approached See, who was a team leader at the time, and asked if he wanted to make money. He proposed asking some suppliers for money in return for purchasing more fish from them and splitting the money equally between them. See agreed to the plan due to his gambling habit and the opportunity to earn some cash. The two men then approached four suppliers for bribes.
In 2014, Lim Poh Heng gave Lim Kian Kok $500 in exchange for buying more fish from Kiang Huat. He then began giving Lim Kian Kok $500 monthly, which increased to $2,000 in 2018. The payments were made in person at Jurong Fishery Port, with See reminding Lim Poh Heng to make payments to Lim Kian Kok on multiple occasions. The payments continued until October 2020.
Chua Teow Hym, also known as Jimmy, worked as a storekeeper from 2009 to around November 2021. His tasks included receiving stocks from suppliers, ensuring they matched the quantity ordered, and rejecting stocks if they were not fresh. Lim Poh Heng gave Chua red packets containing at least $200 during Chinese New Year on at least three occasions from 2010 to 2015 to maintain a good working relationship with him, given Chua’s discretion to buy and accept surplus stock from Kiang Huat.
Lim Poh Heng’s bail was set at $50,000, and he is expected to surrender himself at the State Courts on March 11 to begin serving his sentence.