ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
SINGAPORE – A man was sentenced to six years’ jail on June 29 for his role in a GST ruse which saw the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) pay out nearly $764,000 over fraudulent tax claims.
Luke Giam Zi Hin pleaded guilty to one count of fraudulent trading, and consented to another fraudulent trading charge being taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing. He has made no restitution.
The police and IRAS, in a joint statement after Giam’s sentencing, described the 44-year-old as a key member of a criminal syndicate behind a GST missing trader fraud (MTF) scheme involving approximately $114 million in fictitious sales.
“Giam’s conviction marks the end of court proceedings against a total of eight accused persons who were charged for their involvement in the same GST MTF scheme,” said the agencies.
The case involved a Singapore-incorporated GST-registered company, Nagore Trading, and several buffer companies, which acted as buyers of non-existent goods.
Nagore used forged invoices from at least 12 local suppliers to create a false appearance that it had purchased and paid these suppliers for goods.
Deputy public prosecutors Eric Hu, Jonathan Tan and Jheong Siew Yin stated in court documents that the suppliers said no such goods were sold to the firm.
They added: “The invoices were forged to create the false appearance that Nagore had paid these suppliers for the purported goods, together with 7 per cent GST payable on these goods...
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