Singapore Importer Fined $50,000 for Evading Goods and Services Taxes

Kong Ming Jie, Singapore national and importer, was fined $50,000 by the Singapore State Courts for evading Goods and Services Taxes, submitting false declarations and failing to retain documents under the Customs Act, Singapore Customs said Sept. 10. Kong is the director of Nitecore Singapore Pte Ltd. and the only proprietor of Nitecore SG. Singapore Customs inspected a Nitecore shipment of LED flashlights and accessories at Changi Airfreight Centre in August 2019, finding that the declared value of the goods for one of the shipments was $400 but it was actually worth $23,336.47 (in Singapore dollars). For another shipment inspected the same month, Kong undervalued the goods by $8,000, Singapore Customs said. It said Kong pleaded guilty to five charges.

“Any person who is in any way concerned in any fraudulent evasion of, or attempt to fraudulently evade, any customs duty or excise duty shall be guilty of an offence and will be liable on conviction to a fine of up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded,” Singapore Customs said.