An employee of the Ministry of Food (MOF) restaurant chain borrowed $10,000 from a friend on the pretext of investing it in the Lenas Italian restaurants to earn monthly dividends.

Johnnie Lim, 54, pleaded guilty to cheating Mr Koh Ruixiang of $10,000 and was jailed for a year on Monday by a district court. Mr Koh's age was not reported.

Both men met in September 2009 when Mr Koh dined at MOF restaurant at Bugis Junction. Lim was a customer service officer there. A month later, Lim convinced Mr Koh to lend him the $10,000 to invest but instead used the money to pay Lim's debts to loan sharks.

From July 2010, Lim could not be contacted. Mr Koh called MOF and found out about Lim's dismissal in March that year for not paying debts taken from colleagues. When Lim could not be tracked down by March 2011, Mr Koh went to the police.