If you see the name Joseph Schooling in the headline of an article, you’d probably assume that it was about one of the following topics:
- The Olympics
- Swimming
- Milo
After all, Schooling recently competed in the Olympics in the 100m butterfly event, though he didn’t fare as well as he would have hoped.
He’s probably also had some Milo since then, but our story today has nothing to do with these three things.
Instead, it’s all about his ex-manager, who’s now in trouble with the law.
Joseph Schooling Swim School’s Ex-Manager Cheated 21 People of Over $80K
The man, Mohamed Hafidz Ja’afar, first garnered media attention when allegations of cheating surfaced in July 2019.
Numerous netizens had alleged on Facebook that Hafidz had swindled them, with some losing over thousands of dollars.
According to the complainants, they had purchased tickets from Hafidz for the International Champions Cup (ICC) football match between Manchester United and Inter Milan on 20 July that year.
It was a big match for football fans, as two hugely popular clubs had come to town. The competition also featured Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus.
However, the buyers never received the tickets they paid for, and Hafidz stopped responding to their calls and texts after a point.
In one case, a buyer allegedly transferred S$4,904 to Hafidz for tickets to the match as well as concert tickets for U2, who were playing their first show in Singapore that year.
In total, the sports agent is believed to have cheated at least 12 people over the ICC tickets.
Cheated Others in the Past
It turns out that this wasn’t Hafidz’s first swindle.
In Nov 2017, he duped a man into paying for various types of apparel from the Triathlon Association of Singapore, saying he would deliver it himself.
The man gave Hafidz around S$6,000, but of course, the order never arrived.
He also cheated several buyers who wanted to place large orders of shoes.
In one instance, in June 2019, a buyer transferred S$17,516 to Hafidz for 52 pairs of shoes.
Hafidz was only arrested on 24 July, after allegations over the ICC tickets came to light.
Charged With Cheating 21 People
The 38-year-old has since been charged with cheating 21 people of about S$87,000 from 2017 to 2019.
He intends to plead guilty, and will return to court on 8 Oct.
If found guilty of cheating, Hafidz could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined for each charge; he’s facing 21 criminal charges in total.
Fired From Swimming School Set up By Joseph Schooling in 2019
Before his swindles and diddles, Hafidz worked in communications at the Singapore Swimming Association.
In 2016, he was hired by the Schooling family to help out with logistics. He was then asked in 2017 to work as an administrator at Swim Schooling – the swimming school set up by Schooling – before being promoted to the position of manager there.
However, shortly after the allegations of cheating emerged, Hafidz was fired from his position at the school.
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