JOHOR BARU: Four company owners have been arrested by the Customs Department for allegedly violating vehicle import laws involving 42 cars.
Johor Customs director Aminul Izmeer Mohd Sohaimi said the arrests were made following statewide operations from Jan 5 to Feb 6.
"During this period, we conducted 341 inspections, and opened 21 investigation papers.
"The investigation involved 42 vehicles, among them luxury cars imported from Japan and the United Kingdom," he told a press conference at state Customs headquarters here on Monday (Feb 23).
He said the 42 seized vehicles have an estimated value of RM7.6mil, with unpaid taxes amounting to RM14.3mil, bringing the total value and tax exposure to over RM22mil.
Aminul Izmeer added that the four suspects, aged between 40 and 50, are all company owners.
He said that the vehicles, which do not have licence plates, were stored in bonded warehouses.
"As the vehicles have yet to be taxed, importers are allowed to store them in bonded warehouses for up to 24 months, with a possible extension of 12 months.
"However, our inspections found that some of the vehicles had exceeded the permitted storage period, thus violating the law.
"We also discovered that several vehicles were taken out of the warehouse without Customs approval," he said.
He added that imported vehicles stored in bonded warehouses are subject to taxes and duties immediately upon being removed from the premises.
"The taxes must be settled before the vehicles can be used or sold in the local market," he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 65 of the Customs Act 1967 for breaching storage period conditions and tax claims, Section 75 for removing goods under Customs control without permission, and Section 135(1)(d) for possessing or storing prohibited imported goods.
