SEPANG: Six Lamborghini Huracan supercars were seized by the Customs Department after two car importing companies were found forging declaration documents to bring them in.
Deputy Customs Department director-general (enforcement and compliance) Datuk Azimah Hamid said they conducted raids following an anonymous tip-off on May 29 and seized 21 luxury cars.
“In the first raid, we raided a warehouse in Shah Alam and seized eight vehicles, including two Mercedes-Benz CLS350, a BMW 525i, four Toyota Estimas and a Toyota Alphard.
“At the same time, we conducted a second raid at another warehouse in Shah Alam and seized six Lamborghini Huracans and seven Toyota Vellfires,” she told reporters at the KLIA Customs Department headquarters here yesterday.
She said based on investigations, the companies involved in importing these vehicles had made false declarations on the year of manufacture.
“Under the import licence issued by the International Trade and Industry Ministry, only vehicles between one and five years old can be imported.
“Seven of the vehicles brought in by this company were less than a year old, while the others were over the five-year limit,” Azimah said, adding that the cars were valued at RM12.2mil, including duties and taxes.
She said a new Huracan is worth at least RM1.9mil.
“The modus operandi of those involved is to reduce the amount of tax they have to pay to Customs because the older the cars, the lower the tax will be,” she said, adding that the two car importers were being investigated for alleged document forgery and tax evasion.
Azimah said under Section 135(1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967, those found guilty of importing vehicles without a valid import licence are liable to a fine of 10 times the value of the vehicle or RM50,000 (whichever amount is greater) for their first offence, while they could be liable to a fine of 20 times the value of the vehicle or RM500,000 (whichever is greater) for the second offence, or a jail term of up to five years, or both.
