SINGAPORE: A director of a firm that sells household appliances has been fined S$280,000 (US$206,000) for fraudulently evading Goods and Services Tax (GST) on imported goods and falsifying documents.
Zhang Wei, a Singapore permanent resident, was sentenced to enhanced punishment for his current case as he is a repeat offender, Singapore Customs said on Friday (Dec 27).
On Jun 20, 2022, Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers at Changi Airfreight Centre inspected an import shipment consigned to Ziming Global. Zhang is the sole director of the company.
As the values of the goods were suspected to have been under-declared, ICA referred the shipment to Singapore Customs.
Fifty-two handphones and two unbranded laptops were seized during the inspection and forfeited by the State Courts.
Investigations revealed Zhang set up the company in 2010 to sell household appliances online. His wife, Ou Lingxin, also a Singapore permanent resident, assisted in the company’s business operations.
Between Sep 15, 2021 and Jun 18, 2022, Ou acted on Zhang’s instructions and created 131 fictitious invoices purportedly issued to Ziming Global.
The falsified invoices, claiming to be from overseas suppliers, stated suppressed values and were subsequently used in Ziming Global’s permit declarations for imports into Singapore.
This enabled Zhang to evade S$27,562.35 in GST, Singapore Customs said.
Zhang pleaded guilty to two charges of fraudulent evasion of GST and was convicted on Dec 23. Another two charges of fraudulent evasion of GST and two charges of falsifying invoices were taken into consideration during sentencing.
Zhang was previously convicted for fraudulent evasion of GST and was fined S$156,000 in September 2016.
Ou was convicted on Apr 23 and fined S$7,000. She pleaded guilty to one charge of falsifying invoices used for import declarations, with another charge of falsifying invoices taken into consideration.
Members of the public with information on smuggling activities or evasion of duty or GST can report it to Singapore Customs online.
