A 47-year-old man has been fined S$560,000 after admitting to a scheme involving tens of thousands of bottles of duty-unpaid beer imported from China.
Chinese national Han Xiaoyang pleaded guilty at the State Courts on Friday, 4 September, to seven charges of fraudulently evading duty.
Those charges covered 28,236 bottles of beer and about S$60,127 in unpaid duty, according to Singapore Customs.
Han did not pay the S$560,000 fine and will therefore serve 164 days in jail in default. The court also considered another 15 charges during sentencing, including offences involving both duty and GST evasion.
Beer Was Declared as Food or Industrial Machinery
According to Singapore Customs, Han devised a plan in 2025 to import duty-unpaid beer from China, store it in Singapore and sell it locally.
He used Singapore-incorporated Wan Changya International Pte Ltd for the operation and instructed its general manager, 29-year-old Chinese national Tong Baobao, to carry out parts of the plan.
Han told Tong to work with a freight forwarder in China and have the beer declared as non-dutiable goods. Examples used in the false declarations included food products and industrial machinery.
Han bought the beer in China and had it sent to the freight forwarder before it was shipped to Wan Changya International in Singapore.
Once the beer arrived, Tong arranged for it to be kept at the company's warehouse or other storage units before it was delivered to customers in Singapore.
Customs said the purpose of avoiding the payable duties was to increase the profits from selling the beer.
Customs Seized More Than 35,000 Bottles
The operation came to light on 19 November 2025, when Customs officers were at an industrial building along Tagore Lane.
Officers saw two workers moving liquor into a unit and inspected the consignment. They found 4,044 bottles of duty-unpaid beer.
The workers identified Tong as the person overseeing the consignment. He was arrested after he later arrived at the building.
Further searches led Customs to another 31,016 bottles of duty-unpaid beer, bringing the total seized during the operation and follow-up searches to 35,060 bottles.
The 28,236 bottles mentioned in Han's seven proceeded charges therefore refer specifically to the beer covered by those charges, rather than the entire quantity seized during the Customs operation.
His Accomplice Was Also Fined
Tong had already been sentenced on 4 May 2026.
He pleaded guilty to three charges of fraudulently evading about S$39,517 in duty and was fined S$322,000. Another seven charges were considered during sentencing.
Tong also did not pay his fine and served 80 days in jail in default.
Singapore Customs said offences involving duty-unpaid liquor can attract fines of up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded. Offenders may also face imprisonment of up to 12 months.
SOURCES (internal, do not publish):
Claim: Han Xiaoyang, 47, pleaded guilty on 4 September 2026 to seven charges of fraudulent evasion of duty involving 28,236 bottles of duty-unpaid beer and about S$60,127 in evaded duty. He was fined S$560,000 and will serve 164 days' jail in default after not paying the fine. Fifteen other charges were considered during sentencing. Source: Singapore Customs media release URL: [Singapore Customs media release, 4 September 2026](https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/174/6cf4b5fa-f64d-43bc-8f92-2b48c761eaed/Singapore%20Customs%20Media%20Release%204%20Sep%202026.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Publication date: 4 September 2026
Claim: Han arranged for beer imported from China to be falsely declared as non-dutiable goods including food items and industrial machinery, using Wan Changya International Pte Ltd and directing Tong Baobao to assist with the scheme. Source: Singapore Customs media release URL: [Singapore Customs media release, 4 September 2026](https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/174/6cf4b5fa-f64d-43bc-8f92-2b48c761eaed/Singapore%20Customs%20Media%20Release%204%20Sep%202026.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Publication date: 4 September 2026
Claim: Customs officers found 4,044 bottles at a Tagore Lane industrial building on 19 November 2025 and seized another 31,016 bottles in follow-up searches. Tong was arrested and later fined S$322,000 for his part in the scheme, serving 80 days' jail in default after not paying the fine. Source: Singapore Customs media release URL: [Singapore Customs media release, 4 September 2026](https://isomer-user-content.by.gov.sg/174/6cf4b5fa-f64d-43bc-8f92-2b48c761eaed/Singapore%20Customs%20Media%20Release%204%20Sep%202026.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Publication date: 4 September 2026
Claim: CNA independently reported the S$560,000 fine, 164-day default jail term, 28,236 bottles involved in the proceeded charges and details of the false declarations. Source: CNA URL: [CNA report](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/customs-man-fined-evading-gst-beer-6363361?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Publication date: 4 September 2026
