{"id":122225,"date":"2021-09-27T03:52:10","date_gmt":"2021-09-26T20:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/condo-buyers-agents-jailed-for-backdating-option-to-purchase-to-evade-higher-absd\/"},"modified":"2021-09-27T12:11:13","modified_gmt":"2021-09-27T05:11:13","slug":"condo-buyers-agents-jailed-for-backdating-option-to-purchase-to-evade-higher-absd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/condo-buyers-agents-jailed-for-backdating-option-to-purchase-to-evade-higher-absd\/","title":{"rendered":"Condo buyers, agents jailed for backdating Option to Purchase to evade higher ABSD"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nThe buyers, who are a married couple, were sentenced to six weeks\u2019 jail and fined $276,000. The property agent and seller\u2019s agent were handed an eight-week jail term each.
\nA married couple and two property agents were jailed on 24 September for backdating an Option to Purchase (OTP) to avoid paying higher Additional Buyer\u2019s Stamp Duty (ABSD), reported Channel News Asia (CNA).
\nDaniel Halim and his wife Lee Liu Ying were sentenced to six weeks\u2019 jail and fined $276,000, which is four times the amount of ABSD evaded.
\nProperty agents Mu Shen and Loy Thye Wei were sentenced to eight weeks\u2019 jail each.
\nCNA noted that the case was the \u201cfirst prosecution under the Stamp Duties Act for executing an OTP when all the facts and circumstances were not fully set out\u201d.
\nThe court heard that Mu served as the couple\u2019s property agent in 2018, while Loy was the agent for the seller.
\nHalim and Lee \u2013 who already owned a condominium unit in West Coast Crescent and an HDB unit in Strathmore Avenue \u2013 wanted to purchase a fourth-floor condominium unit at Sandy Palm in Loyang, which they viewed on 7 July 2018.
\nHowever, the Government introduced cooling measures on 5 July 2018, in which the ABSD for Singaporeans purchasing their third and subsequent residential property was raised from 10% to 15%.
\nDuring their second viewing of the property on 8 July 2018, the couple agreed to the purchase price of $1.38 million, but told Mu that they would only push through with the transaction if the OTP was backdated as they no longer had enough cash to cover the higher ABSD.
\nWith this, Mu instigated Loy to backdate the OTP to 4 July.
\nThis comes as residential properties bought on or after 6 July could still qualify for the 10% rate, subject to certain conditions. These included the OTP being granted on or before 5 July.
\nTo add a \u201ccloak of legitimacy\u201d, Halim also backdated his option cheque to 4 July 2018.
\nOn 24 July 2018, the couple executed the OTP, and evaded $69,000 in ABSD.
\nThe seller, who was unaware that Loy had backdated the OTP, raised the latter\u2019s commission to 1.5% from 1% as a reward for closing the deal at that selling price. Loy agreed to share the higher commission with Mu.
\nCourt records did not indicate how the offences were discovered, stating only that a principal tax investigator with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) had investigated the case.
\nIn a statement following the sentencing, the IRAS stated that it \u201ctakes a very serious view of any individual who evades stamp duty by executing instruments containing false information\u201d.
\nIt also urged individuals who have knowledge of such evasions to contact IRAS, adding that a reward based on 15% of the tax recovered, but capped at $100,000, awaits informants of successful cases.
\nFor omitting information in the OTP with the intention of evading duties, the accused could have been sentenced to up to three years of imprisonment, fined up to $10,000, or both.
\nLooking for a property in Singapore? Visit PropertyGuru\u2019s\u00a0Listings,\u00a0Project Reviews\u00a0and\u00a0Guides.
\nCheryl Chiew, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this story, email:\u00a0cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg.\u00a0
\n
\nSource : proppertyguru.com.sg\/Property Market
\nRead more…Condo buyers, agents jailed for backdating Option to Purchase to evade higher ABSD<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The buyers, who are a married couple, were sentenced to six weeks\u2019 jail and fined...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122226,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Man-jailed-crop.jpg?fit=820%2C410&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-vNn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":121803,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/couple-pleads-guilty-to-backdating-option-to-purchase-to-evade-higher-stamp-duties\/","url_meta":{"origin":122225,"position":0},"title":"Couple pleads guilty to backdating Option to Purchase to evade higher stamp duties","date":"September 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Daniel Halim and his wife Lee Liu Ying told their agent to backdate the OTP for a unit at Sandy Palm condo to avoid higher ABSD charges.\u00a0 A married couple, who wanted to purchase a unit at Sandy Palm condominium, pleaded guilty to backdating an Option to Purchase (OTP)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/SANDY-PALM-CONDOMINIUM.jpg?fit=820%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":120524,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/property-agent-pleads-guilty-to-instigating-another-agent-to-backdate-option-to-purchase\/","url_meta":{"origin":122225,"position":1},"title":"Property agent pleads guilty to instigating another agent to backdate Option to Purchase","date":"July 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r By illegally backdating the Option to Purchase, the buyers were able to pay 10% Additional Buyer\u2019s Stamp Duty, instead of 15%, effectively evading $69,000 in stamp duty fees. Source: Google Maps Property agent, Mu Shen, has pleaded guilty to one charge of abetting by instigating his co-accused, Loy Thye\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/SANDY-PALM-CONDOMINIUM.jpg?fit=820%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":123833,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/singapore-unveils-new-property-cooling-measures\/","url_meta":{"origin":122225,"position":2},"title":"Singapore unveils new property cooling measures","date":"December 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Singapore unveils new property cooling measuresThe new Singapore property cooling measures, which include a higher ABSD, lower TDSR, and tighter LTV, will take effect from today, 16 December 2021. 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