SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man has been sentenced to 38 months’ jail and slapped with a S$6.6 million fine for dealing in duty-unpaid cigarettes, the Singapore Customs said on Tuesday (Sep 6).
Abdul Rashid Bin Abdullah, 61, a repeat offender, will serve an additional 22 months in jail if he is unable to pay the fine, the Singapore Customs added.
Singapore Customs received information on Aug 31 that a terraced house along Upper Paya Lebar Road was used to store duty-unpaid cigarettes. When officers entered the house to conduct a check, they found 2,400 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes kept in wooden frames and brown boxes.
Abdul Rashid was then arrested and the duty-unpaid cigarettes were seized. The duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded in this case amounted to about S$204,990.
Investigations revealed that Abdul Rashid had rented the house to store the duty-unpaid cigarettes, which were concealed in wooden frames. He subsequently retrieved the duty-unpaid cigarettes from the wooden frames, using tools such as a hammer, penknife and screwdrivers.
Abdul Rashid was previously convicted on Oct 3, 2008 for dealing in 1,239 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes and was sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment then. Offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded, and/or jailed for up to six years.
