Qu Puteh Millionaire, Datuk Vida Pleads Guilty to 16 GST Related Charges

Celebrity beauty product founder, Datuk Vida, who is known for her distinctive character and signature “Qu Puteh” trademark has pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court today to 16 counts of failing to submit her goods and services tax (GST) returns. She has been acquitted with 16 charges of failing to submit her GST statements to the Customs Department and another 16 charges for not paying it.

Datuk Vida, or formally known as Datuk Seri Dr Hasmiza Othman, initially pleaded not guilty to the charges in the previous court hearing on October 13th. Today, she pleaded guilty to one set of the offences – the failure to submit her GST returns – before judge Murtazadi Amran and was fined RM80,000. The Vida Beauty founder failed to submit her GST statements between April 2015 and July 2016. However, she pleaded not guilty to another set of offences, which consists of 16 charges of failure to pay GST amounting to a total of RM4.2 million.

Image: Yahya Zainuddin

The 16 charges of not submitting her GST returns are framed under Section 41(7) of the GST Act 2014, which carries a maximum fine of RM50,000, or three years’ imprisonment, or both, on conviction. The other 16 charges of not paying her GST are framed under Section 41(6) of the GST Act 2014, which carries a maximum fine of RM50,000, or three years’ imprisonment, or both, on conviction.

The court has set a whopping RM1.76 million as bail for all the charges and also confiscated her passport until the case is disposed.