Two company directors charged with tax evasion in JB court

JOHOR BARU: A logistics company director has been charged at the Magistrate’s Court here with tax evasion amounting to more than RM550,000.

Lua Wen Shin, 41, claimed trial after the charge against him was read out in English in front of magistrate Nur Fatin Mohamad Farid here on Wednesday (Oct 25).

Based on the charge sheet, the accused, who is the director of Narita Shipping and Transport Sdn Bhd, failed to submit the company’s income statement to the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) director-general without a reasonable excuse, between 2020 and 2021.

The taxes Lua was accused of evading were RM376,826 (for 2020) and RM178,002 (for 2021).

After pleading not guilty, Lua’s lawyer, W.T Wong, said that they would be handing over a representative letter in this case.

Nur Fatin then set Dec 3 for the case’s next mention and handing over of documents.

Meanwhile, in the same court, a construction company director also pleaded not guilty to two charges of allegedly failing to submit a personal income statement to LHDN for a period of five years namely 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 amounting to RM129,843.

Syed Azhar Syed Sahat, 51, who was not represented, claimed trial after the charges were read out to him.

In the first charge, he allegedly failed to submit an income statement of RM6,621 for 2016 and RM19,339 for 2018.

For the second charge, the accused allegedly failed to submit an income statement of RM47,187 for the year 2019, RM17,015 for 2020 and RM39,679 for 2021.

Nur Fatin then set Nov 28 for next mention and the handover of documents. She also advised Syed Azhar to appoint a lawyer.

Both Lua and Syed Azhar were charged under Section 112(1A) of the Income Tax Act 1967, which carries a fine of not more than RM20,000 or six months’ imprisonment or both as well as a special penalty of three times the tax amount upon conviction.

LHDN prosecution officer Mohamad Norhalim Kamasan prosecuted both cases.