A SINGAPOREAN motor vehicle importer was fined S$3.6 million on Tuesday (Jan 2) for evading Customs duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 983 vehicles he had imported into the Republic between November 2018 and October 2020.

Tan Lye Khim, the sole proprietor of Smartcar Auto, failed to pay the fine and was instead jailed 43 months in default. He must also serve an additional seven weeks’ imprisonment for underpaying the additional registration fee during the registration of the vehicles.

The 47-year-old was allegedly engaged by two men to set up the entity, Singapore Customs and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a joint statement on Tuesday.

Tan would be paid S$5,000 a month, on top of an annual lump sum ranging from S$100,000 to S$225,000. He was aware that the entity was to be set up to import motor vehicles with suppressed values to evade duty and GST, the authorities said.

Court proceedings against one of the men – who managed the front company’s daily operations – and a female employee who assisted in preparing and submitting motor vehicle values imported through Smartcar to Singapore Customs for assessment, among other job roles, are ongoing.

Investigations are also ongoing for the other man involved.

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Tan pleaded guilty to two charges under the Customs Act for fraudulent evasion of duty and one charge under the Road Traffic Act for giving incorrect information.

Four more tax-related charges and two more charges under the Road Traffic Act were taken into consideration during the sentencing.

Singapore Customs began investigations after suspecting that the values of motor vehicles submitted for assessment of duty and GST payable were intentionally understated.

It and LTA said that any persons concerned in the fraudulent evasion of any duty or GST can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded, and/or jailed for up to two years.

For giving incorrect information related to vehicle tax, those convicted can be fined up to S$10,000, or be jailed for up to six months.