Singapore Jails Automotive Business Directors for Tax Evasion and Money Laundering
Two directors and shareholders of Singapore automotive company William’s Auto Pte Ltd have been jailed after being convicted of income tax and Goods and Services Tax evasion offences as well as money laundering.
Ang Ngoh Tee, 71, and Ang Chai Heng, 63, were each sentenced to around five to six months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay a penalty of S$812,795, according to a joint announcement by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and Singapore Police Force on 17 September 2026.
Investigations found that William’s Auto, which buys and sells new and used cars, issued cash sales invoices for various services without charging GST despite being GST-registered. Between 2013 and 2019, cash received from those sales was deposited into a separate non-corporate bank account. The authorities said the arrangement was used to evade tax payable by the company, with funds subsequently distributed among its directors broadly in proportion to their shareholdings.
Over the years, Ang Ngoh Tee received at least S$2 million from the account, while Ang Chai Heng received at least S$1 million. The company understated net profits in its income tax returns for Years of Assessment 2015 and 2016, resulting in S$219,978 of tax being undercharged. Its output tax was also understated in GST returns between 2013 and 2017, resulting in a further S$50,953 in GST being undercharged.
The money-laundering offences arose from the subsequent use of proceeds derived from the tax evasion. In February 2018, Ang Chai Heng received a S$20,000 cash cheque from the designated account and later deposited it into his personal account. He subsequently issued three cheques totalling S$143,845 as partial payment for a car and admitted that the payments were partly funded by his share of the company’s undeclared cash sales.
In May 2018, Ang Ngoh Tee similarly received and deposited a S$20,000 cash cheque from the designated account. A few days later, he issued a cheque for S$84,322 as partial payment for a car. He also admitted that the payment was partly funded by his share of the undeclared cash sales.
The authorities said that by using these proceeds to purchase their cars, both men possessed assets partly funded by benefits obtained from wilful income tax evasion, constituting money laundering.
Under Singapore’s Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992, it is an offence to conceal, disguise, convert, transfer, remove from jurisdiction, acquire, possess or use benefits derived from criminal conduct. A conviction can carry a fine of up to S$500,000, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.
