KUALA LUMPUR: Two businessmen were charged in the Sessions Court here today with making false claims in their Goods and Services Tax (GST) statements between September last year and last May. It was learnt that they were the first to be charged under Section 89 (1) (b) of the GST Act 2014, for submitting false claims to the Customs Department. Ahmad Zawawi Abdul Rahim, 49, of Taman Silibin Mewah here faced seven separate charges while Mok Siew Khuen, 49, of Taman Pertama here, was charged with five counts for similar offences.
Zawawi allegedly made the false claims totalling RM588,808 for the taxable period between June 1 last year to April 30 this year while Mok was alleged to have submitted the false claims totalling RM356,314.50 for the taxable period from Dec 1, last year to March 31, this year. All the offences were allegedly committed at the Customs Department office at Jalan Kinta here between Sept 2 alst year and May 7, this year.
If found guilty, they could be fined between 10 and 20 times of the amount of tax involved or jailed up to five years or both for each offence. Both Zawawi and Mok, who were represented by counsels N.P. Ramachandran and Awatif Ahmad Bashir, claimed trail and judge Ikmal Hishan Mohd Tajuddin fixed Sept 30 for mention. Ikmal also set the bail for Zawawi at RM700,000 and RM500,000 for Mok in one surety each.
