Twelve Cupcakes Co-Founder Jaime Teo Says She Only Learnt About Underpayment Of Foreign Workers When Investigations Began

Jaime Teo, 43, has been fined S$65k for underpaying seven foreign workers at Twelve Cupcakes, the bakery she and her former husband Daniel Ong founded together. Jaime pleaded guilty to 10 charges under the Employment Foreign Manpower Act earlier this year.

The court found that she allowed the company to underpay the workers by almost S$100k between September 2013 and November 2016. The underpaying practices only came to light after the former couple sold the bakery chain to India-based Dhunseri Group following their divorce.

Following the judgment today (Mar 9), Jaime posted about the case for the first time on her Instagram account. She wrote, “I can finally throw some light on this case - wasn't allowed to talk about it while it was ongoing: I unfortunately signed off on many things without a second glance and left matters to the external agency that was engaged by HR. I only learnt of what was going on when investigations started. As far as I know, we paid all our employees what was agreed with them."

She then apologised for her negligence, adding, “The abusive comments and being misunderstood have been hard to bear. To those who have sent me encouraging and supportive messages during this difficult time, thank you.”

Daniel’s case is pending and he is expected to return to court at a later date.