Chinese national skips S$560,000 fine for smuggling 30,000 bottles of beer in Singapore, heads to jail instead

A Chinese national, Han Xiaoyang, has been fined a record S$560,000 for orchestrating a scheme to smuggle nearly 30,000 bottles of duty-unpaid beer into Singapore.

Han pled guilty to seven counts of fraudulently evading duty, resulting in approximately S$60,127 in unpaid duty.

Unable to pay the fine, Han will serve 164 days in jail, while his accomplice, Tong Baobao, similarly sentenced in May, served 80 days for his role in the operation.

The scheme involved false declarations and the use of a Singapore-incorporated company to evade duties and taxes, ultimately uncovered by a Customs raid.

SINGAPORE, Sept 5 — A Chinese national has been slapped with a record S$560,000 (RM1.74 million) fine for masterminding a scheme to smuggle nearly 30,000 bottles of duty-unpaid beer into Singapore.

Han Xiaoyang, 47, pled guilty yesterday to seven charges of fraudulently evading duty, Singapore-based news outlet CNA reported, citing information from the Customs Department.

“Investigations revealed that Han had conceived and orchestrated a scheme to import duty-unpaid beer from China into Singapore through false declarations,” Customs was quoted as saying.

But Han did not pay the fine and as such, will instead serve 164 days in jail in default.

The seven charges centred on his evasion of roughly S$60,127 (RM187,000) in duty on 28,236 bottles of beer.

According to the news report, judges also took into account 15 further charges, comprising four counts of duty evasion and 11 counts of evading Goods and Services Tax.

Han’s accomplice, 29-year-old countryman Tong Baobao, was sentenced separately in May for his role as general manager of Wan Changya International (WCI), the company used to run the operation.

Tong pled guilty to three counts of fraudulent duty evasion involving about S$39,517 (RM123,000) and was fined S$322,000 (RM1 million).

He too failed to pay and served 80 days in jail instead.

The scheme came apart on Nov 19 last year, when Customs officers raided an industrial unit along Tagore Lane and caught two workers unloading a liquor shipment.

That single consignment held 4,044 bottles of unpaid beer, and follow-up searches turned up a further 31,016 bottles stashed elsewhere.

“To carry out the scheme locally, he used a Singapore-incorporated company and directed Tong to act on his instructions,” Customs said.

Investigators found that Han told Tong in August last year of his plan to import duty-unpaid beer from China for storage and resale in Singapore, boosting profits by dodging tax.

Tong was instructed to get a China-based freight forwarder to misdeclare the beer as non-dutiable goods such as food items or industrial machinery.

Han bought the beer in China and shipped it to WCI in Singapore under those false declarations, after which Tong arranged for it to be warehoused and delivered to local buyers.

Singapore law provides a fine up to 20 times the evaded duty and a maximum jail term of one year for anyone convicted of dealing in duty-unpaid liquor.

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中国公民韩晓阳因策划走私近3万瓶未缴税啤酒进入新加坡，被处以创纪录的56万新元罚款。

韩某承认犯有七项逃税罪，导致约 60,127 新元未缴税款。

由于无力支付罚款，韩某将被判入狱 164 天；而他的同伙童宝宝在 5 月份也因参与该行动而被判刑，服刑 80 天。

该计划涉及虚假申报，并利用一家在新加坡注册的公司来逃避关税和税款，最终在海关突击检查中被揭露。

新加坡，9 月 5 日——一名中国公民因策划走私近 3 万瓶未缴税啤酒进入新加坡，被处以创纪录的 56 万新元（174 万令吉）罚款。

据新加坡新闻媒体CNA援引海关部门的消息报道，47岁的韩晓阳昨天承认了七项逃税罪名。

海关方面表示：“调查显示，韩某策划并实施了一项计划，通过虚假申报从中国向新加坡进口未缴税啤酒。”

但韩某没有缴纳罚款，因此将被判处 164 天监禁。

这七项指控的核心是他逃避了 28,236 瓶啤酒的税款，金额约为 60,127 新元（187,000 令吉）。

据新闻报道，法官还考虑了另外 15 项指控，其中包括 4 项逃税罪和 11 项逃税罪。

韩某的同伙，29岁的同胞童宝宝，因其担任万昌亚国际（WCI）总经理一职，于5月被单独判刑。万昌亚国际是该犯罪活动的运营公司。

Tong承认犯有三项逃税罪，涉案金额约39,517新元（123,000令吉），被罚款322,000新元（100万令吉）。

他也未能支付罚款，反而被判入狱 80 天。

去年 11 月 19 日，海关官员突袭了泰戈尔巷附近的一家工业单位，抓获了两名正在卸载一批酒的工人，该计划就此败露。

那一批货物中发现了 4,044 瓶未付款的啤酒，后续搜查又在其他地方发现了另外 31,016 瓶啤酒。

海关表示：“为了在当地实施该计划，他利用了一家在新加坡注册的公司，并指示童按照他的指示行事。”

调查人员发现，韩某去年 8 月曾告诉童某，他计划从中国进口未缴税啤酒，然后在新加坡储存和转售，通过逃税来提高利润。

童某被指示让一家中国货运代理公司将啤酒谎报为食品或工业机械等免税商品。

韩先生在中国购买了啤酒，并以虚假申报的方式将其运往新加坡的WCI公司，之后童先生安排将其入库并交付给当地买家。

新加坡法律规定，任何人若被判犯有贩卖未缴税酒类罪，将被处以最高相当于逃税额 20 倍的罚款，并可判处最高一年监禁。

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