$1.9m fine for car tax evasion

Ang Hian Koon, owner of Allied Auto was fined over $1.9 million for evading over $700,000 in customs duties and over $200,000 in Goods and Service Tax (GST) in relation to the parallel importing of cars. As he could not pay the amount of the fines, his jail sentence will be 52 weeks. His business had been under-declaring the value of the cars while arranging to pay the foreign supplier in cash during face to face meetings.Although he was not the person submitting the false information to the authorities, he was aware of what was happening. The mastermind of the fraud, Tay Kien Chuan, was fined over $10 million but will serve 8 1/2 years in jail in default of paying the fine.

In total, there are about 15 persons who have been convicted or are awaiting trial for tax evasion in the car parallel import business.