Case and status
Luke Giam Zi Hin was sentenced to six years for fraudulent trading, ending proceedings against eight people in a scheme involving approximately S$114 million of fictitious sales. He pleaded guilty during trial to one charge concerning xShine, with another concerning Nagore taken into consideration.
Facts, amounts and outcome
Nagore used forged invoices attributed to at least 12 suppliers. xShine issued at least 127 false invoices worth at least S$46 million between July 2015 and January 2016. For at least 16 invoices, nearly S$7 million was deposited into an exporter’s account to simulate overseas payments. Goods sometimes delivered differed from invoice descriptions or quantities. The paperwork supported nearly S$8 million in fraudulent input-tax claims. Annex B lists the seven co-accused persons’ outcomes below.
How the missing-trader arrangement works
The upstream trader invoices a domestic buyer for goods plus GST but does not remit the collected tax. Intermediate businesses provide a chain of invoices, and the final exporter claims purchase input tax while recording a zero-rated export. Where the upstream tax is missing, paying a downstream refund causes a loss to the revenue. Some cases use nonexistent goods; others repeatedly circulate goods through imports and exports. The case amounts above describe this particular release, not every missing-trader arrangement.
Due diligence and input-tax exposure
The release warns businesses to investigate the commercial substance of purchases and respond to suspicious arrangements. For supplies that a business knew or should have known were part of missing-trader fraud, the cited rule denies input tax and adds a 10% surcharge on the amount denied. Supplier paperwork alone should not replace checks on actual goods, delivery and the commercial purpose of a transaction.
Co-accused outcomes in Annex B
| Person | Convicted offences | Sentence for those charges |
|---|---|---|
| Ang Chee Keong | Fraudulent trading | 52 months |
| Chua Han Soon, Alvin | Fraudulent trading | 4 years |
| Wong Meng Fai | Fraudulent trading | 3 years |
| Lee Chong Hoong | Fraudulent trading | 3 years |
| Koh Soo Lin | 2 fraudulent-trading counts; accounts falsification | 4 years per trading count; 15 months for falsification |
| Tan Boon Leong, Marcus | Fraudulent trading | 3 years 6 months |
| Tay Tiong Kiong | Forgery | 5 months |
Per-charge terms are not a new calculation of each person’s aggregate prison sentence.
Official attachments and further guidance
Official source
This report is independently written from the IRAS release dated above. Case status, policy announcements and historical figures refer to that release.
Read the complete IRAS release ↗