Joseph Schooling’s former spokesman charged with 21 counts of cheating
SINGAPORE - Former sports agent Mohamed Hafidz Ja'afar, who previously served as Olympic champion Joseph Schooling's spokesman and managed his swim school, has been charged with cheating several people, allegedly duping them into paying for fake football match and music concert tickets, investments and sports apparel. Last Friday (Aug 27), the 38-year-old was charged with 21 counts of cheating for the alleged offences, which occurred from Nov 2017 to July 2019. The sum of the money allegedly cheated amounts to about $87,300. Thirteen of the charges involve the allegation that Hafidz took money from several people to purchase tickets for the International Champions Cup (ICC) - an exhibition football tourament - in Singapore in 2019, but never delivered them. The 2019 edition of the ICC in Singapore featured European teams Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Juventus and Inter Milan. Hafidz was also accused of cheating others into paying for U2 concert tickets in 2019, investments and sports wear, which included triathlon apparel and shoes. He is expected to be back in court on Oct 8. For cheating, an offender can be jailed up to 10 years and fined. Hafidz had previously assisted t...
Cheating charge withdrawn for law graduate accused of duping legal institute
SINGAPORE - A law graduate who was earlier charged with engaging in a conspiracy to dupe the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (Sile) had his cheating charge withdrawn in a district court on Friday (July 2). Mr Manish Kalra, who used to be known as Mr Shree Manish Kalra Jeetender Kumar Kalra, now 28, was given a discharge amounting to an acquittal, which means the Singaporean cannot be charged again with the same offence. The court heard that before his charge was withdrawn, he had been granted permission to travel to Turkey for work and was supposed to return to Singapore by May 20. Eight days later, he applied through his legal team for an extension to remain overseas. Mr Kalra finally returned to Singapore on June 6 and faced District Judge Terence Tay in court on Wednesday. He then told the judge that Covid-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were "not widely available" in Turkey. Mr Kalra added that he travelled to Belgrade - the capital city of Serbia - in early June to take one before returning to Singapore. Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority states on its website: "Depending on the travellers' travel history and Safe Travel Lane used to visit Singap...
NParks officer charged with corruption, cheating and taking upskirt photos
SINGAPORE - An officer with the National Parks Board (NParks) was charged on Tuesday (April 13) with corruption and cheating, and has also been accused of taking upskirt photos of multiple women. Lee Choon Phing faces nine charges of insulting the modesty of a woman, and one charge each of cheating and corruption. The 48-year-old was a manager of the Community in Bloom branch of NParks, an initiative to promote gardening culture here. In February last year, Lee is alleged to have corruptly attempted to obtain $10,000 from a vendor that was supposed to provide 10,000 hats to NParks but only provided 5,000. NParks had paid the full contract amount of $23,300 to the vendor without imposing late delivery fees after Lee allegedly deceived an NParks accounts executive. As for the upskirt charges, Lee allegedly used his phone to take the photos of multiple women between 2015 and 2019. The victims included those working at a nursery that supplies plants used in parks, and women in trains and near a school. In a release about the case, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said Singapore adopts a zero-tolerance approach towards corruption and other crimes. Lee is out on $20,000 ...