Singapore, 5 May 2026 – The director of Concordway Pte Ltd (“Concordway”), Mr Thiyambarawatta Subash Indrajith (“Subash”), was fined $1,068,000 by the State Courts on 24 April 2026 for fraudulent evasion of duty by declaring suppressed values for 34 motor vehicles imported into Singapore between October 2018 and February 2024. The 59-year-old Singaporean has until 25 May 2026 to pay the fine for his Customs offences, failing which he will serve 12 months and two weeks' imprisonment in default.
2 Subash pleaded guilty to nine charges under the Customs Act - three charges for fraudulent evasion of duty, and six charges for abetment by intentionally aiding in the making of untrue declarations to fraudulently evade duty. These charges involved evading duty amounting to about $161,251. Ten other charges were taken into consideration during sentencing - four charges for fraudulent evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST), and six charges for abetment by intentionally aiding in the making of untrue declarations to fraudulently evade GST.
3 Subash was also sentenced to two months’ imprisonment for under-declaring the values of motor vehicles at the point of registration with the Land Transport Authority (“LTA”), which resulted in the underpayment of the Additional Registration Fee (ARF). Subash pleaded guilty to three amalgamated charges under section 11(9) of the Road Traffic Act for providing incorrect information in relation to the value of 21 motor vehicles. Three similar amalgamated charges involving another eight motor vehicles were taken into consideration during sentencing. These incorrect declarations resulted in a total ARF shortfall of $ 1,069,595. The Court ordered Subash to repay the outstanding amount to LTA.
4 Concordway is an importer of motor vehicles from overseas suppliers in Japan and the United Kingdom. The company also provided services to individuals wishing to source and import their motor vehicles from overseas suppliers through Subash’s contacts.
5 Singapore Customs (“Customs”) started investigating after an individual importer of a Porsche 718 Cayman Style Edition submitted documents stating a suspiciously low declared value. Based on information obtained from this importer, Customs officers searched Subash's residence. He then admitted that in assisting clients to import vehicles for commissions of $3,000 to $4,000, he liaised with overseas suppliers to provide invoices with suppressed values significantly lower than the actual vehicle prices. These false invoices were then submitted to Customs as supporting documents for their import.
6 To conceal the money trail, payments were split into two transactions: A "Suppressed Payment" corresponding to the declared value, and a "Balance Payment" which was the difference between the actual and declared values. To avoid detection, Subash would often remit lump sums to overseas suppliers covering Balance Payments for multiple vehicles.
7 Under the Customs Act, any person involved in the fraudulent evasion of any duty or GST on imported goods shall be liable on conviction to a fine of up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or imprisonment for up to two years.
8 Under the Road Traffic Act, any person who gives incorrect information in relation to any matter affecting the amount of ARF chargeable shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to an imprisonment term not exceeding six months, with the maximum penalty doubled for amalgamated charges under s124(8) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The court shall also order the payment of any under-charged ARF to LTA.
9 Members of public with information on smuggling activities or duty or GST evasion are encouraged to report it to Customs at https://go.gov.sg/reportcustomsoffence.
