Car dealer charged in S$1.1 million tax evasion case involving Porsches, Ferraris, Rolls-Royces
Wu Chong is alleged to have evaded taxes on 123 cars, while another car dealer, Goh Chee Sing, faces charges for funding him
[SINGAPORE] A car dealer faces 26 criminal charges of evading around S$1.1 million of excise duty and goods and services tax on 123 cars, which include models from Porsche, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce and more.
Wu Chong, also known as Fed Wu, is alleged to have carried out these offences from February 2019 to November 2024. The 47-year-old Singaporean is the owner of car dealership Allmotoring.sg.
Another car dealer, Goh Chee Sing of Privilege Motors, has been charged separately with furnishing Wu with money to purchase uncustomed goods.
Wu’s scheme involved submitting fraudulent Declaration of Facts for Assessment of Motor Vehicles to Singapore Customs, which means the vehicles were undervalued compared to their true cost.
Twelve of the charges name Hiroshi Matsumoto, a Japanese man who is a Singapore permanent resident, as a co-conspirator. Industry sources said Matsumoto is a shipping receiver for car imports.
More than 100 cars involved
According to judiciary documents, Wu imported 30 Porsches, five Rolls-Royces, five Ferraris, five McLarens, 36 Toyotas and 15 Hondas, as well as models from BMW, Lamborghini, Bentley and Smart.
Some of these include ultra-luxury, high performance or limited edition models, such as the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and Ferrari 488 Pista, which cost more than S$1.5 million dollars at retail.
The cars were imported by two companies: Allmotoring.sg and Shine Trust Trading.
Allmotoring.sg is a sole proprietorship with Wu as business owner, while Shine Trust Trading is a private limited company with Matsumoto as director and majority shareholder.
Allmotoring.sg is involved in car rental and retail, and markets itself as a specialist in pre-owned Porsches and luxury performance vehicles, while Shine Trust Trading is involved in car retail and wholesale trade of goods.
Matsumoto was also mentioned in a similar charge levied at Motorway founder Michael Lim.
Wu faces one charge of avoiding excise duty and 25 amalgamated charges of avoiding excise and GST, with the amount evaded totalling S$1.1 million.
Summed penalties across all 26 charges amount to S$22.7 million.
Under Section 124(8)(a)(ii) of the Singapore Criminal Procedure Code 2010, the court may amalgamate multiple incidents into one consolidated charge and sentence the accused to twice the amount of punishment.
Bail was set at S$200,000, and the next hearing for Wu’s case is on Jul 31.
Wu has a number of interests in the automotive sector. He is the sole proprietor of Lease and Own.Sg, a car rental company.
He is also a majority shareholder of 360 Carmart, a private limited firm that offers management consultancy services, and Allmotoring Garage, also a private limited company, which repairs vehicles.
According to Allmotoring.sg’s website, he was an executive committee member of the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association.
Another dealer charged
In a separate criminal case, Privilege Motors’ Goh was charged with providing Wu with funds of S$280,824 between Mar 30 and 31, 2022, to buy vehicles that had under-declared import fees.
Under Section 132 of the Customs Act, Goh faces a fine ranging from S$100,000 to S$1 million and may also be jailed for up to six years, if found guilty.
Goh controls a number of automotive companies. The 53-year-old Singaporean is an appointment holder and major shareholder of Privilege Group, Privilege Automobile, Privilege Motors, Privilege Capital and Privilege Leasing, all of which are private limited companies.
His bail was set at S$200,000, and a hearing for his case was scheduled on the morning of Jul 24.
