If found guilty under the Stamp Duties Act, all four can be imprisoned for up to three years and/or fined up to $10,000.
Four individuals – including two property agents – have been charged in court with exercising a backdated Option to Purchase (OTP) so the buyers may evade paying higher Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duties (ABSD) on their third property transaction, reported Channel News Asia (CNA).
Loy Thye Wei, a property agent listed with ERA Realty, faces one charge of falsely stating the date on the OTP as 4 July 2018, when it was actually agreed at least four days later.
The OTP was for a fourth-storey unit at Sandy Palm condominium in Loyang. The 43-year old agent was representing the seller.
On 5 July 2018, the government introduced new property cooling measures, in which it raised the ABSD rates to 15% for Singapore citizens purchasing their third and subsequent residential property. The ABSD rate stood at 10% on or before 5 July 2018.
The other agent, 51-year old Mu Shen, was listed with PropNex Realty and accused of abetting Loy in falsely backdating the OTP date.
Condo buyers, Daniel Halim and Lee Liu Ying, were also charged.
Halim and Lee, both 44, are accused of avoiding payment of ABSD for the condo unit at 163 Jalan Loyang Besar by executing a backdated OTP.
Loy will return to court in April, while Halim, Lee and Mu will return later this month.
If found guilty under the Stamp Duties Act, all four can be imprisoned for up to three years and/or fined up to $10,000.
Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this story, email: victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
