Singapore Fines Freight Forwarder Director for False Customs Declarations

Singapore announced a $109,000 fine on the former director of a freight forwarding company after he pleaded guilty to 26 charges of making false customs declarations, Singapore Customs announced in a May 9 notice. If Lim Boon Kheng, former director of Akarui Pte Ltd., is unable or unwilling to pay the fines, he faces nearly two years in prison, the notice said.

Singapore Customs said Lim gave customs agents wrong information in 2014 about the “port of discharge for the export” of three shipments of cigarettes and tobacco products. Lim also knowingly provided customs with false descriptions of goods and quantities of goods in “13 permit applications” for shipping liquor and tobacco products in 2016 and 2017, the notice said. In addition, Lim “breached a Customs permit condition” 10 times when he “stored dutiable liquor and tobacco products in the Keppel Free Trade Zone after removing them from a licensed warehouse” instead of exporting them, the notice said. Singapore Customs said Lim’s permit condition required him to store the products in a “place approved by” Customs if they were not exported. As a result of the investigation, Singapore Customs seized more than 186,000 cartons of cigarettes, about 56,500 pounds of tobacco products and about 57,000 bottles of liquor.

“It is the responsibility of freight forwarders and declaring agents to exercise due diligence when making declarations on behalf of their customers,” Customs Assistant Director-General for Intelligence and Investigation Yeo Sew Meng said in a statement. “They should submit complete and accurate information when making permit declarations and comply with all conditions imposed on the approved permits.”