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 the Schooling family with media queries following the swimmer's victory at the 2016 Rio Games.

He had also worked part-time for Schooling's swim school, known as Swim Schooling, but his employment was terminated after reports of his ICC ticket scam surfaced in July 2019.