A logistics company director in Johor Baru has been charged with tax evasion amounting to more than RM550,000. The director, Lua Wen Shin, who is 41 years old, pleaded not guilty to the charge at the Magistrate’s Court in front of magistrate Nur Fatin Mohamad Farid on October 25. According to the charge sheet, Lua, 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 is accused of evading are RM376,826 for 2020 and RM178,002 for 2021.
Lua’s lawyer, W.T Wong, stated that they would be presenting a representative letter in this case. The next mention and handing over of documents for Lua’s case have been set for December 3.
In a separate case at the same court, a construction company director named Syed Azhar Syed Sahat, aged 51, also pleaded not guilty to two charges of allegedly failing to submit a personal income statement to LHDN for five years including 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, amounting to RM129,843. Syed Azhar, 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, he allegedly failed to submit an income statement of RM47,187 for 2019, RM17,015 for 2020, and RM39,679 for 2021. Nur Fatin set November 28 for the next mention and handover of documents and advised Syed Azhar to appoint a lawyer.
Both Lua and Syed Azhar are 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. The prosecution for both cases is conducted by Mohamad Norhalim Kamasan from LHDN.
