Man fined S$560,000 for evading duty on nearly 30,000 bottles of beer

The man did not pay the fine and will serve 164 days in jail in default.

Cartons of duty-unpaid beer seized in connection with the case. (Photos: Singapore Customs)

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SINGAPORE: A man who was the mastermind of a scheme to evade duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) on imported beer has been fined S$560,000 (US$442,000), Singapore Customs said on Friday (Sep 4).

Han Xiaoyang, a 47-year-old Chinese national, pleaded guilty on Friday to seven charges of fraudulent evasion of duty. The charges involved the evasion of about S$60,127 in duty on 28,236 bottles of duty-unpaid beer, Customs said in a media release.

As Han did not pay the fine, he will serve 164 days in jail in default, Customs said.

The court also took into consideration 15 other charges during sentencing, comprising four charges of fraudulent evasion of duty and 11 charges of fraudulently evading GST.

Han's accomplice, 29-year-old Chinese national Tong Baobao, was sentenced on May 4 for his involvement in the scheme. Tong was employed by Han as the general manager of Wan Changya International (WCI).

He pleaded guilty to three charges of fraudulently evading duty and was fined S$322,000. The charges involved approximately S$39,517 in evaded duty.

Seven other charges were taken into consideration during Tong's sentencing.

Tong did not pay the fine and served 80 days' imprisonment in default.

Cartons of duty-unpaid beer seized in connection with the case. (Photo: Singapore Customs)

On Nov 19, 2025, Customs officers conducted an operation at an industrial building along Tagore Lane, where they observed two workers moving a consignment of liquor into a unit.

The consignment was found to contain 4,044 bottles of duty-unpaid beer. The workers identified Tong as the person-in-charge, and he was arrested after arriving at the building later.

During follow-up searches, Customs officers uncovered and seized an additional 31,016 bottles of duty-unpaid beer.

"Investigations revealed that Han had conceived and orchestrated a scheme to import duty-unpaid beer from China into Singapore through false declarations," said Customs.

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

In August 2025, Han informed Tong of his plan to import the duty-unpaid beer from China for storage and sale in Singapore. The scheme was designed to evade duties on the beer, thereby increasing sale profits.

Han instructed Tong to liaise with a freight forwarder in China to falsely declare the beer as non-dutiable items such as food items or industrial machinery.

Han then purchased the beer in China, which was delivered to the freight forwarder and exported to WCI in Singapore under false declarations.

Tong subsequently arranged for the imported duty-unpaid beer to be stored in WCI's warehouse or storage units before it was delivered to WCI customers in Singapore.

Those found guilty of buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing or dealing in duty-unpaid liquor can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded. Offenders may also be jailed for up to 12 months.

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该男子未缴纳罚款，将被判处164天监禁。

警方在该案中查获了数箱未缴税啤酒。（图片：新加坡海关）

这段音频由人工智能工具生成。

新加坡：新加坡海关周五（9月4日）表示，一名策划逃避进口啤酒关税和商品及服务税（GST）的男子被罚款56万新元（44.2万美元）。

47岁的中国公民韩晓阳（音译）周五承认七项逃税罪名。海关在新闻稿中表示，这些指控涉及逃税，涉案金额约为60127新元，涉及28236瓶未缴税啤酒。

海关表示，由于韩某未缴纳罚款，将被判处164天监禁。

法庭在量刑时还考虑了其​​他 15 项指控，其中包括 4 项逃税欺诈指控和 11 项逃消费税欺诈指控。

韩某的同伙，29岁的中国公民童宝宝，因参与该计划于5月4日被判刑。童宝宝受雇于韩某，担任万昌亚国际（WCI）的总经理。

他承认三项以欺诈手段逃避关税的指控，并被罚款32.2万新元。这些指控涉及逃避的关税金额约为39517新元。

在对童某进行量刑时，还考虑了其​​他七项指控。

Tong没有缴纳罚款，被判处80天监禁。

警方在该案中查获了数箱未缴税啤酒。（图片：新加坡海关）

2025年11月19日，海关官员在泰戈尔巷的一栋工业大楼进行检查时，发现两名工人正在将一批酒搬进一个厂房。

经查，这批货物中含有4044瓶未缴税啤酒。工人们指认童某为负责人，童某随后抵达现场后被逮捕。

在后续搜查中，海关官员又查获并扣押了 31,016 瓶未缴税啤酒。

海关表示：“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进口未缴税啤酒到新加坡。”

“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。”

2025年8月，韩向童透露了他的计划，即从中国进口未缴税啤酒，然后在新加坡储存和销售。该计划旨在逃避啤酒关税，从而增加销售利润。

韩指示童与中国的一家货运代理公司联系，将啤酒虚假申报为食品或工业机械等免税物品。

韩先生随后在中国购买了这批啤酒，并将其交付给货运代理，然后以虚假申报的方式出口到新加坡的WCI公司。

Tong随后安排将进口的未缴税啤酒存放在WCI的仓库或存储单元中，然后再交付给WCI在新加坡的客户。

凡被判犯有购买、出售、运输、交付、储存、保管、持有或交易未缴税酒类罪行者，可被处以最高相当于逃税额20倍的罚款，并可能被判处最高12个月的监禁。

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