Desmond Tan Hock Heng, a 24-year-old property agent has been sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment for using fake stamp certificates. This makes him the first agent to be jailed under the Stamp Duties Act.
According to a media report, Tan admitted to cheating the Commissioner of Stamp Duties of S$3,694 by using eight fake stamp certificates in seven property transactions.
The stamp duty is a tax collected on documents or agreements relating to properties, including the option to purchase agreements, sale and purchase agreements and lease agreements. After the stamp duty is paid, a stamp certificate is issued.
Using a genuine certificate from previous deals, investigations showed that Tan forged eight stamp certificates by changing details like stamp duty amounts, the addresses of the properties, dates of documents and the names of tenants and landlords. He then presented the forged certificates to tenants, landlords and property agents of the landlords.
Tan later deleted the fake and original certificates, but forensic teams at the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) recovered the files from his computer.
Separately, Tan was also sentenced to two weeks imprisonment after pocketing rental payments amounting to S$4,600 and S$3,600.
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