ALOR STAR: A company owner and two others were charged at the Sessions Court here today with engaging in the illicit reduction of duties on luxury cars in Langkawi, which resulted in millions of ringgit in losses for the government.
The three men - Yeoh Ee Tat, 56, Mohd Haiqal Mohd Sebrie, 33, and Teh Wei Li, 52, - pleaded guilty after their charges were read before Judge Rohatul Akmar Abdullah.
According to the charges, Yeoh, who is the owner of an import vehicle company, was accused of deceitfully using a forged document dated Aug 26, 2018, in the form of an affidavit when registering Teong Teck Leong as a Langkawi resident to purchase a Bentley Bentayga.
He was also charged with deceitfully using a fake customs declaration form on Dec 1, 2021, resulting in the Customs Department to levy duties of RM422,461.27 on the luxury vehicle intended to be taken out of Langkawi.
The second accused, Haiqal, employed as a despatch for the import vehicle company, was charged with deceitfully using customs declaration forms for the assessment of a Ferrari 458 Speciale owned by Soh Weng Thiam and a McLaren 650S owned by Loke Yoon Mink.
Following the owner's declaration as a Langkawi resident, the Custom Department imposed duties of RM299,614.20 on the Ferrari and RM357,393.55 on the McLaren for their move out from Langkawi in 2021.
The third accused, Teh, also employed as a despatch for the import vehicle company, was charged with deceitfully using customs declaration forms for the assessment of a Porsche 911 GT2 RS owned by Mubarak Hussain Akhtar Husin.
Following the owner's declaration as a Langkawi resident, the Customs Department imposed duties of RM598,442 on the involved luxury vehicle for its move out from Langkawi in 2021.
All accused are charged under Section 471 of the Penal Code, which, upon conviction, carries a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment and a fine or both.
The prosecution was led by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deputy public prosecutors Mohamad Fadhly Mohd Zamry and Mohd Afif Ali, while the trio were represented by lawyer Mohd Hakim Hamran.
After the guilty pleas, Judge Rohatul imposed a fine of RM10,000 on each accused and a nine-month prison term if the fine is not paid.
The three men paid the fines.
