SINGAPORE - A former manager of The Lasik Surgery Clinic (LSC) was charged on Friday with conspiring with an eye surgeon to misappropriate about $474,000.

Felix Huang Keming, 62, also faces nine charges of instigating an employee in 2005 to make false entries in the clinic's cheque book register that cheques ranging from $2,520 to $79,000 had been issued to US Imaging Consultancy.

Huang, who is now retired, allegedly abetted former national swimmer Marc Tay Tze-Hsin on or before Dec 19 that year to misappropriate $474,124.

He was executive chairman of Singapore Medical Group, the parent company of LSC, between 2009 and 2013.

Dr Tay, then a director of Pacific Healthcare Specialist Services (PHSS), was originally charged with 11 counts of cheating PHSS by concealing payments for operations he was doing as a visiting consultant at LSC.

The 55-year-old was fined $30,000 in February last year after admitting to three amended charges of criminal misappropriation of $204,325. He was fined another $2,000 for breaching the Companies Act.

An earlier report stated that Dr Tay's clinic had been acquired by Pacific Healthcare Holdings, subsequently renamed PHSS, in February 2001.

Under the agreement, the opthalmologist was to hand over all generated income to PHSS, which would pay him an annual gross remuneration of $396,000, coupled with certain bonuses.

Subsequently, Dr Tay became a visiting consultant at LSC. PHSS knew about this and agreed to be paid a monthly fee of $2,500 by LSC for work done by him.

But between December 2005 and December 2006, LSC paid Tay separate fees which he concealed from PHSS. This amounted to $445,874.

Huang, represented by Mr Abraham Vergis, had his bail doubled to $100,000 so he could travel to Europe.

A pre-trial conference is scheduled on Aug 6.