Singaporean man fined more than $1.3 million for evading duty and GST
A Singaporean man was fined more than $1.3 million after he conspired with three others to evade taxes on 195 vehicles imported into Singapore in 2015.
Sunil Kishinchand Bhojwani, 59, was fined $1,347,146 last Friday after he pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent evasion.
Three other charges, including two of giving false information to Singapore Customs, were taken into consideration.
The total duty and goods and service tax (GST) he evaded amounted to $224,520 and $91,610 respectively.
Bhojwani was the manager of vehicle import-export company T Kishen and Company, which was owned by his parents.
Singapore Customs said its officers discovered discrepancies in the declaration of facts (DOF) submitted by two motor vehicle traders for making duty or GST payments on motor vehicles.
The officers also discovered that the commercial invoices, submitted together with the DOF, were similar to those issued by an overseas supplier to Bhojwani's company.
OVERSEAS SUPPLIER
Investigations revealed Bhojwani had purchased 195 vehicles and negotiated with the overseas supplier to suppress the values in the invoices to evade paying the full duty and GST on the vehicles.
He also paid three motor vehicle traders to submit the DOF and apply for the duty payment permits as he did not want any legal responsibilities should the Singapore Customs discover the values were suppressed.
The three traders knew the values were suppressed and were paid $800 to $1,000 by Bhojwani for each motor vehicle imported.
In March and September 2018, Bhojwani claimed he was overseas when called up by the Singapore Customs to assist with investigations.
One of the three motor vehicle traders has been convicted and sentenced, and investigations are ongoing for the other two.
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