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The founders of Doce Cupcakes, Daniel Ong, and his ex-wife Jaime Teo, were indicted yesterday in court for violating labor laws.
Ong, 45, a former radio DJ who came to court with his wife Fay Tan, was indicted on 24 counts involving eight foreign employees under the Foreign Labor Employment Act, including non-payment. to employees on time.
Teo, 43, a former model who was crowned Miss Universe Singapore in 2001, faces the same charges.
The couple, who married in 2007 and divorced in 2016, established the bakery chain in 2011.
A few months after the divorce, they sold the business to the Indian tea company Dhunseri Group for $ 2.5 million.
The couple is accused of allowing the chain to underpay or underpay the eight employees, whose salaries ranged from $ 2,000 to $ 2,600 per month, from 2013 to 2016.
There were also cases of some workers receiving no income for periods between 2012 and 2013.
Ong’s case was granted a four-week adjournment until January 26 after his attorney, Kalaithasan Karuppaya of Regent Law, told the court that he had just received information about the case.
Teo’s attorney, Ms. Diana Ngiam of Quahe Woo & Palmer, said her client intended to plead guilty and was grateful that the prosecution amended the charges to reflect Teo’s negligence in the matter, rather than infractions. intentional.
Teo’s case was also postponed until January 26.
For each count, an offender can be jailed for up to one year and fined up to $ 10,000.
Earlier this month, Twelve Cupcakes, under its new ownership, pleaded guilty to 15 counts of underpaying seven employees in 2017 and 2018.
REDUCED
The company paid employees between $ 1,400 and $ 2,050, as opposed to their fixed monthly salaries that ranged from $ 2,200 to $ 2,600.
Initially, the company had credited the reduced wages to employees’ bank accounts.
Then, starting in May 2018, he paid the workers their full salary but told them to return a portion of the salary in cash to the company.
Urging the court to impose a fine of $ 127,000, Human Resources Ministry prosecutor Maximilian Chew said the company had done this to avoid detection by concealing a paper trail of its crimes.
Twelve Cupcakes is expected to be sentenced next year.
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