Two 41-year-old Singaporean men were convicted by the State Courts on 14 April 2025 for evading Goods and Services Tax (GST) on branded goods imported from France.
Eugene Wey and Song Qingguang Daniel were fined S$18,500 and S$2,000 respectively, with a total penalty exceeding S$20,000.
The case stems from their arrival in Singapore on 8 March 2022 following a trip to France, where they purchased luxury items for customers of Eplayground SG LLP, a company Song had invested in.
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Wey pleaded guilty to one charge of fraudulent evasion of GST amounting to approximately S$1,788 on branded goods valued at around S$25,548.
When questioned by an Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer at the Green Channel, Wey falsely claimed he had nothing to declare.
A subsequent inspection revealed 24 pieces of branded goods in his luggage.
Song pleaded guilty to one charge of causing an incorrect declaration that resulted in a GST shortfall of about S$368 on branded goods valued at around S$5,858. An additional similar charge was taken into consideration during sentencing.
Business Operations
Investigations showed that Eplayground’s business model involved selling branded goods from Europe. Song led the “Paris Team” that visited boutiques and luxury goods outlets in Paris to purchase branded goods on behalf of customers.
Besides fulfilling customer orders, Wey had also purchased branded goods for his relatives and friends.
Despite knowing these goods were subject to GST and required declaration, he deliberately chose to exit through the Green Channel to avoid paying the tax.
On 9 March 2022, Singapore Customs officers conducted checks at Eplayground’s office and discovered a parcel shipped via air freight from France. The description of contents and values stated on the air waybill did not match the actual contents and values.
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The goods were seized during the inspection.
Investigations revealed that Song had shipped these goods to Singapore during the trip but failed to ensure that the correct import value was provided. This oversight led to the freight company incorrectly declaring the import value, resulting in a GST shortfall of about S$368.
Similar Cases
This case follows a pattern of GST evasion cases involving branded goods in Singapore. In October 2024, a couple behind a retailer that conducted livestream sales of branded goods was convicted and fined for similar offences.
Wang Siew Ching, director of Vanity Closet, and her husband Rayson Loo Sian Hao, the company’s manager, had evaded approximately S$91,915 in GST and omitted freight charges of about S$4,172 in import declarations.
They received significantly higher fines of S$396,000 and S$453,000 respectively.
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Vanity Closet’s business involved conducting livestream sales on Facebook, showcasing branded goods from overseas shops. The couple would travel to the United States and the United Kingdom to visit shops selling branded goods and conduct livestreams.
After receiving customer orders, they would purchase the products and ship them to Singapore via air.
Loo created invoices with substantially lower values than the actual products and submitted them to freight forwarders, who then declared the suppressed values to Customs.
Legal Consequences
Any person involved in fraudulent evasion of, or attempt to fraudulently evade, any duty or GST is liable on conviction to a fine of up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or imprisonment for up to two years.
Additionally, making any declaration that is untrue, incorrect or incomplete can result in a fine not exceeding S$10,000, or the equivalent of the amount of customs duty, excise duty or tax payable, whichever is greater, or imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both.
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Goods involved in the commission of such offences are also liable for forfeiture, as was the case with the items seized from Wey and Song.
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