Singapore, October 13, 2012

As an executive chef at the Marriott Hotel, he had the final say on which food suppliers the hotel's purchasing department should use.

But Chik Ka Chung, 48, abused his position and accepted $177,704 in bribes from Tay Ee Tiong, 56, the sole proprietor of a seafood supply business called Wealthy Seafood Product And Enterprise.

Chik took the money between March 2006 and July 2009 in exchange for ensuring that Marriott Hotel continued to buy supplies from Tay.

He pleaded guilty yesterday to five corruption charges. Another 16 charges will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced on Oct 30.

Chik, who was an award-winning chef, is now jobless.

One of four chefs charged in June with accepting bribes from Tay, Chik was the the first to plead guilty.

The accused in the other cases, which are at pre-trial conference stage, are:

Yang Lai Fatt, 39, previously with then-Meritus Mandarin Singapore's Mandarin Court Chinese restaurant;

Tan Ah Teng, 46, then a master chef at Goodwood Park Hotel;

Goh Wooi Cheat, 48, who used to work as a chef at Summer Palace, a Cantonese restaurant at Regent Singapore;

Tay was sentenced to 41/2 months' jail in September last year. He confessed to bribing 19 chefs from 17 hotels and restaurants with a total of $992,404 between 2006 and 2009.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Joel Chen told the court yesterday that Chik usually received the bribes in cash near Marriott Hotel or when he met Tay for karaoke sessions.

DPP Chen pressed for Chik to get a total of six months' jail.

Chik's lawyer, Mr Tan Beng Hock, asked District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt to give his client either a fine or a short jail sentence.

He said Chik is remorseful and would not repeat the offence.

For accepting the bribes, he can be jailed a maximum of five years and fined up to $100,000 for each charge.

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Click on the photos below to see who else is involved in the Chefs Corruption Scandal: