SINGAPORE - Three employees of a safety product company allegedly duped five people into paying $835 for fire extinguishers after telling them lies, including that all Housing Board households must own the device.

Adrian Tan Wei Liang, 25, Chai Ri Jou, 27, and Isaac Ang Shi Ming, 28, were working for Fire Safety Prevention SG (FSP) at the time.

They are said to have gone door to door to sell their products and allegedly committed the cheating offences between 2018 and 2020.

Each victim bought one fire extinguisher, after being told lies that FSP was collaborating with a community centre to sell the device; FSP was supported by MPs and the police; it was compulsory for every HDB flat to own the device; and the Singapore Civil Defence Force would issue summonses to households without the device.

Kelvin Tan Yaosheng, 42, the director of FSP then, was charged on Tuesday with two counts of obstructing the course of justice.

On two occasions in 2020, he is said to have instructed FSP employees – including Adrian Tan, Chai and Ang – to give identical statements to the police and to officers of the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore.

Court documents did not disclose how the alleged offences came to light.

Chai, who was handed two cheating charges on Tuesday, is accused of cheating two people of $358. These incidents took place in Woodlands and Hougang.

Adrian Tan was charged with two counts of cheating involving $298. The incidents took place in Sengkang. The police said in a statement he allegedly claimed that FSP was collaborating with “Sengkang Community Centre” to sell fire extinguishers.

Ang is accused of cheating a fifth person of $179 and faces one cheating charge, for an incident that also took place in Sengkang.

The ages of all five alleged victims were not disclosed.

A check with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority shows that Kelvin Tan used to be the owner of multiple companies including Fire Safety & Prevention (SG), Home Safety Services, SG Fire Prevention and Singapore Fire Prevention. He is now a director and shareholder of a firm called Blossom Global.

The cases involving all four men have been adjourned to August.

For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined. For each count of obstructing the course of justice, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years and fined.