Man fined over S$700,000 for role in scheme to evade duty, GST by illegally diverting liquor for local sale

THE Crime

Studies revealed that the system was masterminded by&nbsp, Chua Tong Ling Melvyn, 43, who had come up&nbsp, with the plan somewhere between October and November 2019.

Chua had requested that Ng to locate top companies that would be included in the customs trade permits. He even asked another individual- Tay Liang Hwee Roger, 46- to aid with the related documents.

In October 2019, Ng introduced Chua to Poh Chee Chean, who was chairman of the business Universeroc.

Poh, 41, consented to permit Universeroc to be named as the supplier in exchange for S$ 5 per bottle of declared alcohol in exchange for the trade permits for the fraudulently diverted duty-suspended wine.

He then set up an Universeroc email address and gave Ng a signed checkbook and the registration information for his bank accounts.

Before any duty-suspended wine can be taken out of authorized stores and delivered to vessels, an export force is required.

To circumvent this necessity, Chua&nbsp instructed Tay to produce false trade records and email correspondences to appear to have been sent a genuine order to export duty-suspended liquor to sea stores.

Singapore Customs claimed that these fake documents were used to apply for trade permits, obstructing the fact that the duty-suspended alcohol was later diverted inland.

Between November 2019 and April 2020, Chua’s program resulted in a full of 459 boxes of duty-suspended wine, or 3, 898.2L, being illegally diverted for local distribution.

On S$ 11, 440 was evaded in full duty and GST.

Ng admitted guilt on two counts of conspiring to escape paying taxes. Four additional, comparable charges of evading commitment and the GST were considered when punishment.

He was fined a full of S$ 712, 163.76.

On Jul 3 last year, the State Courts sentenced Chua and Tay to charges of S$ 864, 770.28 and S$ 763, 032.60 both.

They had each admitted guilt on two counts of conspiring to escape paying their taxes. During sentencing, four additional related expenses were each taken into account.

Poh was dealt with on Oct 6, 2021 and fined&nbsp, S$ 300, 351.45.

He admitted guilt on one count of conspiring to dodge paying his taxes. Another command of a similar nature was taken into account while sentencing.