SIBU: The Magistrates’ Court has fined a 44-year-old man RM100,000 in default of five months’ imprisonment for contravening the Customs Act 1967.
Magistrate Mohd Syukri Mokhtar also ordered the accused to pay RM392 in default of two days’ imprisonment, to the director-general of Customs on Thursday (Oct 21).
Justino Lebun from Kanowit was unrepresented and he failed to pay the fine.
He was charged with knowingly possessing prohibited goods comprising several bottles and cans of duty-not-paid beer valued at RM398.13, an offence listed under 135(1) of the Customs Act 1967.
According to the facts of case, on Feb 12, 2019 at about 12.20pm, a group of Customs officers raided a grocery shop in Jalan Rantau Panjang.
The team was met by a person, later identified as the accused, who later called the grocery store owner and informed him of the raid.
Upon inspecting the premises, the team found several bottles and cans of beer of assorted brands.
The goods were then seized and brought to the Sibu Customs Office for further investigation and safe keeping.
During investigation, the accused claimed as the owner of the seized goods.
Investigation revealed that the accused had failed to prove that the customs duties on all the seized goods had been paid and all the goods were found without any tax stamp.
The seized goods were valued at RM398.13, involving import duty amounting to RM392.
