{
  "id": 5740777,
  "title": "Chinese national skips S$560,000 fine for smuggling 30,000 bottles of beer in Singapore, heads to jail instead",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/chinese-national-skips-s-560-000-fine-for-smuggling-30-000-bottles-of",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-05T07:52:56.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Malay Mail",
    "slug": "malay-mail-malaymail",
    "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/singapore/2026/09/05/chinese-national-skips-s560000-fine-for-smuggling-30000-bottles-of-beer-in-singapore-heads-to-jail-instead/234041"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A Chinese national, Han Xiaoyang, has been sentenced to 164 days in jail after evading duty on nearly 30,000 bottles of beer smuggled into Singapore. The 47-year-old orchestrated a scheme to import duty-unpaid beer from China, evading over S$60,127 (RM187,000) in taxes. Due to his refusal to pay the fine, Han will serve the jail term instead. This comes after Customs officers discovered the operation during a raid in November, seizing 4,044 bottles of unpaid beer and uncovering a total of 35,060 bottles hidden elsewhere. His accomplice, Tong Baobao, was separately sentenced to 80 days in jail in May for his role in the scheme, which involved fraudulent duty evasion and GST evasion.",
  "summary": "SINGAPORE, Sept 5 — A Chinese national has been slapped with a record S$560,000 (RM1.74 million) fine for mastermi...",
  "key_points": [
    "Chinese national Han Xiaoyang sentenced to 164 days in jail",
    "Han evaded S$560,000 in taxes by smuggling 30,000 beer bottles",
    "Tong Baobao accomplice jailed for 80 days in May"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 6,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "Nine days on, Nepali soldiers pull Chinese national alive from hydropower tunnel",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/nine-days-on-nepali-soldiers-pull-chinese-national-alive-from",
        "published": "2026-09-05T09:17:57.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "VnExpress International",
        "title": "Chinese tourist and two strangers chase down Gucci bag snatcher for two blocks in Singapore",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/chinese-tourist-and-two-strangers-chase-down-gucci-bag-snatcher-for",
        "published": "2026-09-05T09:46:39.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Two more survivors, including Chinese national, rescued 10 days after devastating Nepal floods",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/two-more-survivors-including-chinese-national-rescued-10-days-after",
        "published": "2026-09-05T11:39:51.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Indian Express",
        "title": "Nepal floods: They stopped hoping he was alive. Then they found a hand",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/nepal-floods-they-stopped-hoping-he-was-alive-then-they-found-a-hand",
        "published": "2026-09-05T12:26:45.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "France 24",
        "title": "Nepal: Two more people rescued alive",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/05/nepal-two-more-people-rescued-alive",
        "published": "2026-09-05T15:12:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}