Singapore’s restaurant franchise Paradise Group Holdings has been found guilty on 29 charges of fraud for tampering with gas meters.
The company was found to have used S$636,438.12 worth of gas in 24 restaurants across Singapore between August 2011 and April 2012.
Of the 24 restaurants, 13 were Paradise Inn eateries, four Kung Fu Paradise restaurants, two Seafood Paradise outlets, and one outlet each from Paradise Group Holdings, Paradise Dynasty, Paradise Pavilion, Taste Paradise and Canton Paradise.
Paradise Group apparently removed the seal in the gas meters so as to use gas without paying a single cent. The Energy Market Authority (EMA) asked for the maximum fine of $610,000, while the state prosecutor said that tampering with gas meters could have resulted in accidental explosions.
Brothers Eldwin and Edlan Chua, the CEO and COO respectively of Paradise Group Holdings, became millionaires in a short time after rebranding into a Chinese fine-dining restaurant from running a kopitiam zi char stall in Defu Lane. The franchise has outlets in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, London, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
