Koh Siew Buay (许秀梅, 50 years old), a property agent, was jailed two weeks today after she pleaded guilty to three charges involving the use of counterfeit stamp certificates. Another charge was taken into consideration for sentencing.

Koh used three counterfeit stamp “certificates” in the property rental transactions that she had handled, and her actions resulted in her underpaying the Commissioner of Stamp Duties $532.00 in taxes.

This is the second case, in as many months, where a property agent has been charged under the Stamp Duties Act for passing counterfeit stamp “certificates” off as genuine.

Stamp duty is a tax payable on documents or agreements relating to properties, such as tenancy or lease agreements, Option To Purchase, and sale and purchase agreements. Upon payment of stamp duty, a stamp certificate will be issued to certify that a certain amount of stamp duty has been paid relating to the document or agreement.

Koh Siew Buay’s Crime Uncovered by IRAS’ Forensics

Between Jan to Jun 2011, Koh collected the full amount of stamp duty payable from the tenants for three rental transactions she handled but entered shorter rental periods and lower rental amounts into the e-Stamping system. Koh was then issued three stamp certificates based on the incorrect details she had submitted.

With these stamp certificates, Koh created three counterfeit stamp “certificates” that reflected the higher stamp duty amounts actually payable and presented them to the tenants of the properties, illegally pocketing the difference between what they had paid to her and what she had paid to IRAS. The tenants were unaware that the stamp “certificates” they received from Koh were fake or that their agent had understated the stamp duty payable to IRAS.

Although Koh initially denied that she had created and used the counterfeit stamp certificates, IRAS’ forensics team was able to successfully extract copies of the genuine and counterfeit stamp certificates from her computer. Faced with the evidence, Koh eventually admitted to the offences.

Tax Crimes Involving the use of Counterfeit Stamp Duty Certificates

IRAS takes a very serious view of using counterfeit stamp duty “certificates”. In this case, Koh Siew Buay’s clients had trusted her, a property agent, to pay the stamp duties they had handed her to the Commissioner of Stamp Duties. Instead, she underpaid the Government the sum of $532 and pocketed the money for herself.

Any individual or business that deliberately counterfeits stamp certificates and knowingly misrepresents that such counterfeit stamp “certificates” are genuine will have to face penalties of up to $10,000 and/or up to three years’ imprisonment. Stiff penalties of up to four times the stamp duty may also be imposed for late or non-stamping of documents.

Online Check on Stamp Certificate Authenticity

Members of the public can go to the e-Stamping website https://estamping.iras.gov.sg (“Stamp Duty Resource” > “Check Stamp Certificate Authenticity”) to check on the authenticity of the stamp certificates in their possession. If the stamp certificates are authentic, the full details of the stamp duty payment, including the document description, property address, stamp duty amount and the date of document will match those shown on the website. If no details can be found on the website, or if there are discrepancies in the details, please contact IRAS to have the authenticity of the stamp certificate verified.

Reporting Suspected Stamp Certificate Forgery

Should you suspect that you have been presented with fake stamp certificates, please send an email to IRAS at [email protected] or call 6351 3697/3698 immediately.

Should you know of any stamp certificates fraud, please also contact IRAS immediately. IRAS will ensure that your identity is kept confidential.

Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore