IPOH: Beauty products entrepreneur Datuk Seri Hasmiza Othman, better known as Dr Vida, has been fined RM80,000 by the Sessions Court after she pleaded guilty to charges of failing to submit the Goods and Services Tax (GST) statements totalling RM4.2mil.

Hasmiza, 45, admitted to the charges yesterday after she changed her plea to guilty when the charges were read to her.

Sessions Court Judge Murtazadi Amran said that she would also be sentenced to six months jail for each charge if she failed to pay her fine. She paid her fine.

Hasmiza faced 16 charges for failing to submit her GST statements from April 1, 2015 to July 31, 2016 under Section 41 (6) of the GST Act 2014.

She also faced another 16 charges of failing to pay the GST on the same dates under Section 41 (7) of the GST Act. The GST payments due totalled RM4.2mil.

The offences were allegedly committed at the GST Division, Wisma Kastam, No 1, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak here.

Each of the charge provides a maximum fine of RM50,000 or three years imprisonment or both upon conviction.

Serious offence: Hasmiza leaving the Sessions Court in Ipoh.

Hasmiza claimed trial to all the charges on Oct 13. She was ordered to pay RM1.76mil bail.

However, she maintained her plea of not guilty to 16 charges for failing to pay GST. The court set Dec 30 for re-mention.

In his judgement, Judge Murtazadi said the court agreed that the offences committed by Hasmiza were serious and an appropriate sentence should be meted out to educate the people on the importance of paying their taxes.

He also said the court cannot close one eye and had to be fair to all without looking at the status of those charged.

“This is a public interest case, as her failure to make the GST payments affect the Government’s revenue,” he said.

Customs deputy public prosecutor Datuk Raja Rozela Raja Toran and Farah Ezlin Yusop Khan prosecuted, while Hasmiza was represented by counsel Syed Ahmad Syed Abas.

Syed Ahmad had requested the court to impose a fine of RM4,000 for each charge.

“The court should also take note that she had pleaded guilty to save court time and cost. She also attended the proceedings.

“During the Gegar Vaganza TV programme, she had looked happy, but actually she was very stressed about this case. Her business is affected and her future GST payments will drop due to this ,” he told the court.