In a joint statement on Monday (20 April), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Singapore Customs said the scheme involved falsified documents that made the vehicles appear less valuable than they actually were.<\/p>\n
Both men pleaded guilty and were sentenced to fines, with jail terms imposed after they failed to pay.<\/p>\n
Investigations revealed that in 2020, 51-year-old Phang Boon Wee Desmond sought to take control of Metalox Autos to import vehicles at \u201csuppressed values\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mustsharenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/imported-cars.png\")
<\/p>\n
Source: Dar ius on Canva, for illustration purposes only<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
To reduce his exposure to legal liability, he arranged for 45-year-old Loke Chern Meng to be listed as the company\u2019s director and sole shareholder.<\/p>\n
In return, Loke was paid S$200 for each vehicle imported and allowed Phang to run the company\u2019s operations, including access to its corporate accounts.<\/p>\n
Phang sourced buyers and worked with overseas suppliers to obtain invoices reflecting lower prices.<\/p>\n
These were submitted to Singapore Customs as part of the Declaration of Facts (DOF), while separate payments were made for the undeclared amounts.<\/p>\n
Over 140 vehicles under-declared<\/h3>\n
Singapore Customs launched investigations after suspecting that Metalox\u2019s DOF submissions had been falsified.<\/p>\n
Authorities found that 143 vehicles were under-declared between December 2020 and January 2022, resulting in about S$266,854 in unpaid duty and GST.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t