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SINGAPORE: A man was fined S $ 418,000 for evading taxes and failing to maintain documents and records related to motor vehicle imports, Singapore Customs said on Friday (October 2).
Tan Wee Leng, 43, the sole owner of Zion Auto imports, was sentenced Thursday after being convicted of conspiring with three other motor vehicle dealers to evade excise duty and the goods and services tax (GST). ) related to vehicles imported into Singapore.
He was also found guilty of failing to keep documents and records related to imports “without a reasonable excuse”.
Tan pleaded guilty to two counts, while three others were considered.
Before sentencing, Tan had voluntarily handed over S $ 34,000 from the proceeds of his “criminal conduct,” Singapore Customs said.
Singapore customs officials had discovered discrepancies in the statement of fact that two vehicle dealers, including Zion Auto Imports, submitted to make tax or motor vehicle tax payments.
Investigations revealed that Sunil Kishinchand Bhojwani of T Kishen and Company hired Tan to apply for expired duty payment permits for 56 motor vehicles between March and May 2015.
In return, Tan was paid up to S $ 2,000 for each permit.
Authorities also found that Tan had declared expunged values of 37 additional motor vehicles destined for another auto retail business between March and July 2015.
The company, Zion Auto Gallery, was registered with his wife.
The total unpaid duties amounted to about S $ 117,060 and a goods and services tax of about S $ 49,160.
Tan also faced another charge for failing to retain documents and records related to motor vehicle imports, Singapore Customs said.
“During the investigations, Tan informed officials that the business documents related to Zion Auto Imports were misplaced and made no attempt to recover the lost documents,” it added.
Sunil was convicted and fined more than S $ 1.3 million on February 28, 2020. Tang Luan Yew, a motor vehicle dealer who was also hired by Sunil to fraudulently evade duty and GST was found guilty and sentenced on September 21 of 2017.
Investigations are ongoing for a third motor vehicle dealer, authorities said.
