Dr Vida charged with failing to make GST payments totalling RM4.2mil
Vida being escorted by Customs Department officers at Ipoh Sessions Court.
IPOH: Beauty products entrepreneur Datuk Seri Hasmiza Othman, better known as Dr Vida, was charged in the Sessions Court here with 16 counts of failing to make payments for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) totalling about RM4.2mil.
She was also charged with another 16 counts of failing to submit the GST statements to the Customs Department.
The 45-year-old owner of Vida Beauty Sdn Bhd pleaded not guilty, and claimed trial to the charges before judge Murtazadi Amran.
Dressed in a black jubah and maroon tudung, Hasmiza arrived at the court premises at 9am Thursday in her white Toyota Vellfire with hordes of media photographers gathered there.
Hasmiza was charged with failing to make payments and producing the statements for the taxable period between April 1, 2015, and July 31, 2016.
The offences were allegedly committed at the GST Division, Wisma Kastam, No 1, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak.
The charges under Section 41(7) and Section 41(6) of the GST Act 2014 provide a maximum fine of RM50,000 or three years imprisonment, or both, upon conviction for each charge.
Customs Department deputy public prosecutor Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan requested a bail of RM100,000 for each of the 32 charges, and for Hasmiza to surrender her passport to the court.
Her counsel Khairilazwar Khalil requested bail to be set at RM3,000 for each charge, and for the court not to keep her passport as his client had to travel overseas often due to the nature of business.
For failing to make the GST payments, Judge Murtazadi set bail at RM60,000 for each charge, while for failing to submit the statements, bail was set at RM50,000 for each charge.
In total, Hasmiza was required to pay a total bail of RM1.76mil.
Judge Murtazadi also told her to surrender her passport to the court. Next mention date was set on Nov 15.
