Two Singaporean men have each been fined S$3.35 million after admitting to illegally importing more than 4.5 million litres of diesel from Malaysia without making the required declarations, resulting in avoided duties and Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Singapore Customs said Chua E Hong, 51, and Ng Leok Kwee, 48, pleaded guilty in a Singapore court on Tuesday to three charges of fraudulently evading duty under the Customs Act.
The charges involved the importation of 4,527,099 litres of automotive diesel between April and December 2024, with about S$905,419 in duties allegedly avoided.
The court also took 16 other charges into consideration when sentencing the two men. These comprised six additional charges of fraudulently evading duties and 10 charges of fraudulently evading GST, involving about S$2.5 million in duties and taxes.
According to Singapore Customs, Chua and Ng had devised a scheme to obtain cheaper diesel from Malaysia and bring it into Singapore without declaring the imports or obtaining the required Cargo Clearance Permits.
The untaxed diesel was then resold to customers in Singapore to increase the profits of CNC Petroleum Pte Ltd, where Chua was the managing director and Ng was the executive director.
Singapore Customs said it launched an investigation after receiving information about the scheme and uncovered the operation involving the undeclared importation of diesel.
Under the arrangement, CNC purchased diesel from a supplier terminal in Pengerang, Johor.
A vessel would then collect the diesel and transport it into Singapore territorial waters, where the fuel was transferred multiple times to two smaller vessels at the Selat Pauh Petroleum Anchorage.
The diesel was subsequently transported to the Penjuru Terminal, where it was transferred to tanker trucks for distribution to customers in Singapore.
Ng was responsible for coordinating the scheduling of vessels and tanker trucks, as well as the collection and transfer of the diesel, according to Singapore Customs.
