Eminent Frog Porridge owner, 49, charged for tax evasion & money laundering, benefits included over S$2.4 million cash, a Lamborghini & landed property

Buntono, 49, the owner of Eminent Frog Porridge, also known as Ming Hui Food Porridge, and Eminentseafood, was charged in court on Jul. 3 with income tax and goods and services tax (GST) evasion and money laundering offences.

This was after a joint investigation by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force.

Buntono, who goes by one name, faces a total of 30 charges, a joint statement by IRAS and the Singapore Police Force said on Friday.

The tax offences were:

• Wilfully understating his trade income for years of assessment 2016 to 2024, resulting in close to S$2 million of income tax being undercharged.

• Wilfully perpetuating a fraud by deliberately concealing the liability of his businesses to be registered for GST and falsely understating his business income in his income tax returns for those years, resulting in close to S$1.8 million of GST being undercharged.

• Failing to keep sufficient business records for years of assessment 2016 to 2024.

The money laundering offences were:

• Possessing properties that, in part, represented his benefits from wilful income tax evasion, namely over S$2.4 million in cash, a Lamborghini Aventador and a landed property.

IRAS warns against tax evasion

IRAS said in the joint statement that it takes a serious view of tax evasion.

IRAS said: "There will be severe penalties for those who wilfully evade tax. The authority will not hesitate to bring offenders to court. Offenders may face a penalty of up to four times the amount of tax evaded. Jail terms may also be imposed."

All businesses, including individuals deriving income from their trade, profession or vocation, should assess if they need to register for GST.

IRAS said the thresholds are:

• If a business’s taxable turnover for the past 12 months exceeds S$1 million at the end of the calendar year, it must apply for GST registration by Jan. 30.

• If a business reasonably expects its turnover to exceed S$1 million in the next 12 months, it must register within 30 days from the date of their forecast.

• Sole proprietors are required to register once the combined turnover from all their sole-proprietorship businesses and income from any trade, profession or vocation exceeds or is expected to exceed $1 million in the next 12 months.

Any business that fails to register for GST is still required to pay GST on all their past transactions from the date the business became liable for GST registration, IRAS added.

GST is payable even if the amount was not collected from customers.

Failure to register for GST is an offence and businesses may face penalties of 10 per cent of GST and fines of up to S$10,000.

Under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, it is an offence for any person to conceal, disguise, convert, transfer, remove from jurisdiction, acquire, possess, or use benefits derived from criminal conduct. Upon conviction, offenders are liable to be punished with a fine of up to S$500,000, or a jail term of up to 10 years, or both.

Cash rewards for informants

A reward based on 15 per cent of the tax recovered, capped at S$100,000, will be given to informants if the information and/or documents provided lead to a recovery of tax that would have otherwise been lost.

All payments are at the discretion of the Comptroller.

IRAS will ensure that the identities of informants are kept strictly confidential.