SINGAPORE – He took part in a case of fraud involving a syndicate that exploited the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system, causing a loss of over $2million to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras).
The prosecution said that Francis Tan Nuan Seng’s offences were linked to “voluminous paper trails of sham transactions, purportedly made by several shell companies for fraudulent claims of input tax”.
Separately, he also misappropriated $39,500 in cash.
On Sept 23, the 48-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to four years and two months’ jail after he pleaded guilty to one count each of fraudulent trading, criminal breach of trust and forgery.
One of his accomplices, Kelvin Yeo Soon Teck, then 42, was sentenced to five years’ jail in February.
Deputy public prosecutors Eric Hu, Matthew Choo and Lee Da Zhuan told the court that though Tan played an important role in the syndicate, he was not the mastermind of the scheme.
The DPPs added that the masterminds were Vietnamese Trinh Tien Dung, also known as “Don” and Singaporean Luke Giam Zi Hin, 41.
Court documents did not disclose the outcome of the cases involving the pair.
The ruse involved a firm called M_Solution Trading (MSTPL) and the prosecution said that Dung directed its operations.
According to court documents, he also directed the operations of another firm called Crescendo Hardware Trading (CHTPL).
In 2015, Tan met up with Dung who told him about the scheme and the Singaporean agreed to be part of it.
In a joint statement in September 2023, the police and Iras said that in a typical arrangement under such a ruse, a group of businesses would form a supply chain through which goods are sold.
Meanwhile, the goods sold down the chain are purportedly exported by the last seller in the chain.
Since exported goods are exempt from GST, this last seller does not collect GST on the exports.
Instead, it claims a refund from Iras, causing a loss to the State if it falls for the ruse.