2 S’porean men fined over $2.6 million for under-declaring car values to evade duties and GST

Two Singaporean men have been fined a total of more than $2.6 million for under-declaring the value of imported vehicles to evade duties, Goods and Services Tax (GST) and registration fees.

In a joint statement on April 20, Singapore Customs and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the offences involved more than 140 vehicles imported by Metalox Autos between December 2020 and January 2022.

Desmond Phang Boon Wee, 51, was sentenced on April 20 to a fine of $1,362,000 after pleading guilty to charges of fraudulent evasion of duty and GST. The offences involved suppressing the declared values of 142 vehicles, resulting in about $185,477 in duty evaded.

Additional GST evasion of about $77,901 involving the same vehicles, as well as offences involving one vehicle imported in December 2020, were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Phang did not pay the fine and will serve 27 months’ jail in default of payment.

Loke Chern Meng, 45, was earlier sentenced on March 6, 2023, to a fine of $1,298,500 for similar offences. He did not pay the fine and served 26 months’ jail in default.

Both men were also sentenced to five weeks’ jail for providing incorrect information to LTA during the registration of 139 vehicles, which resulted in the underpayment of the Additional Registration Fee (ARF).

The court ordered them to pay a total ARF shortfall of $1,348,620.

Loke facilitated the scheme by allowing Phang to run Metalox Autos.

Singapore Customs said it launched investigations into the company after suspecting that declarations submitted for duty and GST assessments had been falsified.

Phang had planned to acquire the firm in 2020 to import vehicles at suppressed values to pay less duty and GST. To avoid legal liability, he persuaded Loke to become the registered director and sole shareholder, offering him $200 per vehicle imported.

Phang then sourced buyers, placed orders with overseas suppliers and obtained false invoices reflecting lower vehicle prices. These were submitted to Singapore Customs to reduce the amount of duty and GST payable.

He also split payments to suppliers into two parts — one based on the falsified invoices and another for the undeclared amount — to conceal the true value of the vehicles.

Loke allowed Phang to manage the company’s operations, including access to its CorpPass account and pre-signed cheque books.

In total, the under-declaration of 143 vehicles between December 2020 and January 2022 resulted in about $266,854 in unpaid duty and GST.

Under the Customs Act, anyone convicted of fraudulent evasion of duty or GST can be fined up to 20 times the amount evaded and/or jailed for up to two years.

Under the Road Traffic Act, anyone who provides incorrect information affecting the amount of Additional Registration Fee (ARF) payable can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to six months, or both. The court may also order the repayment of any undercharged ARF to LTA.

Members of the public with information on such offences can report them to Singapore Customs.

Have something to say? Join in!

Show all comments