Man fined S$560,000 for evading duty on nearly 30,000 bottles of beer
The man did not pay the fine and will serve 164 days in jail in default.
Cartons of duty-unpaid beer seized in connection with the case. (Photos: Singapore Customs)
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SINGAPORE: A man who was the mastermind of a scheme to evade duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) on imported beer has been fined S$560,000 (US$442,000), Singapore Customs said on Friday (Sep 4).
Han Xiaoyang, a 47-year-old Chinese national, pleaded guilty on Friday to seven charges of fraudulent evasion of duty. The charges involved the evasion of about S$60,127 in duty on 28,236 bottles of duty-unpaid beer, Customs said in a media release.
As Han did not pay the fine, he will serve 164 days in jail in default, Customs said.
The court also took into consideration 15 other charges during sentencing, comprising four charges of fraudulent evasion of duty and 11 charges of fraudulently evading GST.
Han’s accomplice, 29-year-old Chinese national Tong Baobao, was sentenced on May 4 for his involvement in the scheme. Tong was employed by Han as the general manager of Wan Changya International (WCI).
He pleaded guilty to three charges of fraudulently evading duty and was fined S$322,000. The charges involved approximately S$39,517 in evaded duty.
Seven other charges were taken into consideration during Tong’s sentencing.
Tong did not pay the fine and served 80 days’ imprisonment in default.
On Nov 19, 2025, Customs officers conducted an operation at an industrial building along Tagore Lane, where they observed two workers moving a consignment of liquor into a unit.
The consignment was found to contain 4,044 bottles of duty-unpaid beer. The workers identified Tong as the person-in-charge, and he was arrested after arriving at the building later.
During follow-up searches, Customs officers uncovered and seized an additional 31,016 bottles of duty-unpaid beer.
“Investigations revealed that Han had conceived and orchestrated a scheme to import duty-unpaid beer from China into Singapore through false declarations,” said Customs.
“To carry out the scheme locally, he used a Singapore-incorporated company and directed Tong to act on his instructions.”
In August 2025, Han informed Tong of his plan to import the duty-unpaid beer from China for storage and sale in Singapore. The scheme was designed to evade duties on the beer, thereby increasing sale profits.
Han instructed Tong to liaise with a freight forwarder in China to falsely declare the beer as non-dutiable items such as food items or industrial machinery.
Han then purchased the beer in China, which was delivered to the freight forwarder and exported to WCI in Singapore under false declarations.
Tong subsequently arranged for the imported duty-unpaid beer to be stored in WCI’s warehouse or storage units before it was delivered to WCI customers in Singapore.
Those found guilty of buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing or dealing in duty-unpaid liquor can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded. Offenders may also be jailed for up to 12 months.
Source: CNA/nh(kg)
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