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Sep 12, 2009
Liquor scam busted <!--10 min-->
10 nabbed for bottle-swop plan to evade duties, tax <!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> <!-- show image if available --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr></tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Teh Joo Lin
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CUSTOMS officers have crippled a Singapore syndicate which ran an elaborate scam to evade taxes and duties on alcohol by switching the bottles. Ten people, including a husband- and-wife team in their mid-30s, were arrested after officers raided 20 premises islandwide on Thursday. About 18,000 bottles of branded vodka, whisky and wine, as well as 1,600 cans of beer, were seized. The amount of duties and goods and services tax evaded from the loot seized came up to about $400,000. Investigations found that the syndicate imports the alcohol but tells the authorities that they are meant for export. This would exempt the alcohol from taxes and duties.
The bottles of liquor are then switched with empty alcohol bottles or mineral water bottles, which are packed into cartons and exported. To make the fake cargo look more authentic, the cartons bore the marks of alcohol brands such as Chivas Regal, Absolut Vodka and Jim Beam. The real deal was then sold on the streets here to retailers and entertainment outlets. Liquor meant for export to other countries is stored in licensed warehouses approved by the Customs while waiting to be loaded onto ships for the next leg of their journey. When it is time for these goods to be shipped abroad, they are transferred from the licensed warehouses to the ports. It appears that this syndicate made the switches in the cargo during the time when the cartons were moved from the warehouse to the Keppel Distripark, near the port. On Thursday morning, Customs officers spotted several men from the syndicate unloading bottles of the duty-unpaid alcohol from a van and carting them to two rented storage rooms inside a Kallang Way building. Two of the men were then arrested. At the same time, another two men were caught at another industrial building in Kallang Pudding Road, where cartons containing empty bottles were to be loaded onto the vans before the vehicles headed for Keppel Distripark. Customs said the husband-and-wife team is believed to have been behind the scam, with the man thought to be the mastermind.
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Sep 12, 2009
Liquor scam busted <!--10 min-->
10 nabbed for bottle-swop plan to evade duties, tax <!-- headline one : start --> <!-- headline one : end --> <!-- Author --> <!-- show image if available --> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr></tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr> </tr> <tr><td colspan="2" class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold">By Teh Joo Lin
</td></tr></tbody></table>
CUSTOMS officers have crippled a Singapore syndicate which ran an elaborate scam to evade taxes and duties on alcohol by switching the bottles. Ten people, including a husband- and-wife team in their mid-30s, were arrested after officers raided 20 premises islandwide on Thursday. About 18,000 bottles of branded vodka, whisky and wine, as well as 1,600 cans of beer, were seized. The amount of duties and goods and services tax evaded from the loot seized came up to about $400,000. Investigations found that the syndicate imports the alcohol but tells the authorities that they are meant for export. This would exempt the alcohol from taxes and duties.
The bottles of liquor are then switched with empty alcohol bottles or mineral water bottles, which are packed into cartons and exported. To make the fake cargo look more authentic, the cartons bore the marks of alcohol brands such as Chivas Regal, Absolut Vodka and Jim Beam. The real deal was then sold on the streets here to retailers and entertainment outlets. Liquor meant for export to other countries is stored in licensed warehouses approved by the Customs while waiting to be loaded onto ships for the next leg of their journey. When it is time for these goods to be shipped abroad, they are transferred from the licensed warehouses to the ports. It appears that this syndicate made the switches in the cargo during the time when the cartons were moved from the warehouse to the Keppel Distripark, near the port. On Thursday morning, Customs officers spotted several men from the syndicate unloading bottles of the duty-unpaid alcohol from a van and carting them to two rented storage rooms inside a Kallang Way building. Two of the men were then arrested. At the same time, another two men were caught at another industrial building in Kallang Pudding Road, where cartons containing empty bottles were to be loaded onto the vans before the vehicles headed for Keppel Distripark. Customs said the husband-and-wife team is believed to have been behind the scam, with the man thought to be the mastermind.
[email protected]
