SINGAPORE — A director of a water pump maintenance firm was on Wednesday (March 13) charged with two counts of cheating Tampines Town Council into overpaying for water pump replacements.

Zhang Shuyan, 58, a Singaporean director of FYH Integrated, allegedly submitted 206 invoices for more expensive water pumps than those that were installed by his company.

He did not indicate his plea on Wednesday and told the court that he intends to hire a lawyer.

Court documents showed that Zhang purportedly billed Tampines Town Council for the installation of multi-stage pumps within the Tampines housing estate. 

He had allegedly done so 102 times between April 1, 2016 and Dec 31, 2016, and 104 times between Jan 1, 2017 and July 31, 2017.

These invoices amounted to S$380,550.

In a press release on Tuesday, the police said that Zhang's company was the term contractor at the time that was engaged by Tampines Town Council for pump maintenance works for the estate.

Although Zhang billed the town council for multi-stage water pumps, he allegedly installed cheaper single-stage water pumps.

It is unclear how or when the town council discovered that the contractor had allegedly installed these cheaper water pumps.

Zhang is now on a S$50,000 bail and will be back in court on April 3.

For cheating, he faces up to 10 years' jail and a fine.