S’porean woman, 32, didn't declare jewellery brought into S'pore to evade S$946 GST, fined S$11,400

A 32-year-old Singaporean woman was fined S$11,400 for attempting to bring jewellery purchased overseas into Singapore without declaration and fraudulently evading Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Nabilah Binte Jaafar Al-Kathiri pleaded guilty to one charge of fraudulent evasion of GST and was fined on Aug. 5.

The court ordered the forfeiture of 19 pieces of jewellery and other case exhibits, including bags and boxes used in the commission of the offence.

The jewellery was valued at about S$10,512, and the GST evaded amounted to about S$946.

On Apr. 5, 2026, Nabilah arrived in Singapore as a passenger in a Malaysia-registered vehicle at Woodlands Checkpoint.

She falsely told Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers that she had nothing to declare, even though she knew GST was payable on the jewellery she brought into Singapore.

During checks on the vehicle, ICA officers discovered 23 pieces of jewellery belonging to Nabilah, comprising 21 pieces of gold jewellery and two pieces of titanium jewellery, packed in 22 parcels inside a polymer bag in the boot of the vehicle.

The case was referred to Singapore Customs for investigation, and she was arrested.

Authorities seized all 23 pieces of jewellery.

Investigations revealed that Nabilah resided in Malaysia and ran an online business selling gold and titanium jewellery to customers in Singapore.

She advertised her goods on platforms such as Facebook and Telegram, and sourced the

jewellery from various shops in Malaysia before bringing them into Singapore for delivery to her customers.

Out of the 23 pieces of jewellery seized, 19 were intended for commercial sale for profit.

The remaining pieces of jewellery were intended as personal gifts.

Under the Customs Act 1960 and the GST Act 1993, fraudulent evasion of duty or GST is a serious offence.

Nabilah could have been fined up to 20 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and jailed for up to 12 months.

Singapore Customs advised travellers to declare and pay their duties and/ or GST through the Customs@SG web application or at the checkpoints.

Members of the public with information on smuggling activities or evasion of duty or GST are advised to report it to customs at https://go.gov.sg/reportcustomsoffence.