S
Shingen Takeda
Guest
Dec 20, 2010
FOR EVADING LIQUOR TAX
Fined $500k for liquor
By Khushwant Singh
Jasbindar Singh was nabbed and the 40-year-old was fined a total of $500,000 for evading duty and the goods and services tax (GST) on the contraband. -- ST PHOTO: STEPHANIE YEOW
IF THE 1,962 bottles of duty-unpaid liquor were smuggled out of the Keppel Distripark undetected on Aug 4, a trader could have made a profit of $70,000 by selling them on the open market.
Thanks to a whistle-blower, Jasbindar Singh was nabbed and the 40-year-old was fined a total of $500,000 on Monday for evading duty and the goods and services tax (GST) on the contraband.
A charge of filing a false declaration about the shipment was taken into consideration by District Judge John Ng in sentencing. A district court heard that the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority received a tip-off and its officers were alerted to watch out for a certain lorry.
At about 4.10pm on Aug 4, Singh was seen sitting beside the driver of the lorry at the checkpoint for vehicles leaving the Keppel Distripark. Singh produced a cargo clearance permit for 150 bundles of rags and 3.5 tonnes of scrap metal to be taken out.
However, a check revealed no scrap metal but nearly 2,000 bottles of bottles of premium liquor. These included Chivas Regal and Johnnie Walker whiskies, Jack Daniels bourbon, Absolut vodka and Jose Cuervo tequila.
Asking the court to impose a lenient sentence, Singh's lawyer Christopher Bridges said that his client suffered a heart attack two years ago and chalked up a hefty medical bill which he was paying in instalments since.
He also had to support his wife, a housewife, and two children, aged seven and eight, on a monthly salary of $3,000 and had resorted to crime because of financial woes, the lawyer added.
