PUTRAJAYA: The Customs Department has arrested a scamming couple for alleged cheating, involving the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The husband and wife were believed to have falsified GST claims amounting to some RM25.58 million, last week.
Customs director-general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy said the department also arrested the mastermind behind the scam.
"Based on information we have received and our partnership with the National Revenue Recovery Enforcement Team (NRRET), we detained the suspected mastermind who is in his fifties
“We arrested the businessman in Ipoh (Perak) on Aug 25 in and picked up his wife who is in her forties in Bandar Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur, two days later.
"The mastermind had RM200,000 in various currencies on him while and his wife had RM182,000 in hand when they were arrested," he told reporters at a press conference here, today adding that more people could be involved in the scam.
The other suspects he said would be picked up soon.
Asked how the department alerted to the scam, he said it was the department's risk management and audit system that red-flagged the profile.
"Their tax claims did not reflect the nature of the business. We were on the case for several months before the arrest was made ," he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 89 (1)(b) of the GST Act 2014 for submitting false claims to the Customs Department.
If found guilty, they could be fined between 10 and 20 times the amount of tax involved or jailed up to five years or both, for each offence, Subromaniam said.
He added both their bank accounts had been frozen pending investigations under the Anti- Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLTFPUA).
The suspects will be charged at the Ipoh Sessions Court tomorrow.
On this year’s GST collection, Subromaniam said collection was better than the last.