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SINGAPORE \u2013 A director of a car import company has been sentenced to 112 months\u2019 imprisonment after he defaulted on a $14 million fine for fraudulent evasion of duty.<\/p>\n
Clement Lee, director of Crownston Line, was given the fine on Feb 25 for suppressing the declared value of more than 2,500 motor vehicles into Singapore between July 2016 and April 2022, said Singapore Customs and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a joint statement on March 11. <\/p>\n
Lee, a 44-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty to eight charges for fraudulent evasion of duty amounting to about $5.2 million. Another 15 charges of fraudulent evasion of goods and services tax (GST) and incorrect declaration were taken into consideration during sentencing in February. <\/p>\n
At that time, he was also sentenced to 12 months\u2019 imprisonment for under-declaring the value of nearly 1,000 vehicles at the point of registration with LTA, resulting in the underpayment of the additional registration fee (ARF).<\/p>\n
Charges involving another 1,505 motor vehicles were taken into consideration during the February sentencing. These incorrect declarations resulted in a total ARF shortfall of about $39.1 million, which the court ordered Lee to pay to LTA. <\/p>\n
Crownston employee Sim Yan Min, 41, who assisted in the preparation of documents for submission to Customs, was fined $6.8 million by the State Courts on April 8, 2025. <\/p>\n
The Singaporean pleaded guilty to four charges for abetting the fraudulent evasion of duty amounting to over $2.5 million on the import of 1,120 motor vehicles. <\/p>\n
Another eight charges for abetting the fraudulent evasion of GST and incorrect declaration were taken into consideration during sentencing.<\/p>\n
Sim is currently serving 72 months\u2019 imprisonment for not paying the fine. <\/p>\n
Investigations revealed that Lee contacted and requested overseas suppliers to suppress the value of the vehicles indicated in the invoices. <\/p>\n
Sim would then assist Lee in preparing documents for submission to Customs. <\/p>\n
Crownston made at least two payments for each order of imported cars. The first payment would tally with the suppressed amount reflected in the invoice declared to Customs. <\/p>\n
The subsequent payments, for the balance of the actual value, would be made to the overseas suppliers through various remittance houses, to avoid detection of these additional payments. <\/p>\n
Sim also handled the remittance of these subsequent payments. <\/p>\n
Under the Customs Act, any person involved in the fraudulent evasion of any duty or GST on imported goods shall be liable on conviction to a fine of up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded, and\/or imprisonment of up to two years.<\/p>\n
Under the Road Traffic Act, any person who gives incorrect information in relation to any matter affecting the amount of ARF chargeable shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to an imprisonment term not exceeding six months.<\/p>\n
The court shall also order the payment of any under-charged ARF to LTA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n