SINGAPORE: Co-founder of homegrown bakery chain Twelve Cupcakes Jaime Teo pleaded guilty on Thursday (Feb 4) to underpaying foreign workers a total of almost S$100,000 when she helmed the company with her then-husband Daniel Ong.
Teo, a local celebrity and former Miss Universe Singapore, admitted to 10 charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, with another 14charges taken into consideration for sentencing.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAs a director of the firm, she allowed Twelve Cupcakes to underpay almost S$100,000 in salaries of seven foreign employees who had worked at the bakery over about three years.
To date, about S$98,900 in salaries is still owed to the employees and no restitution has been made.
Teo set up the cupcake business in 2011 with former radio DJ Ong, whom she married in 2007. They divorced in 2016 and sold the company a few months later to India-based Dhunseri Group, which grew the brand to 35 outlets in Singapore today.
Twelve Cupcakes, under its new ownership, was fined S$119,500 last month for underpaying seven employees of about S$114,000 over two years.
AdvertisementAdvertisementTeo will return to court at a later date for sentencing. For contravening work pass conditions, Teo could be jailed for up to a year, fined up to S$10,000, or both per charge.
Ong’s case is pending. He is set to return to court on Feb 16.
Let's block ads! (Why?)
More...