Restaurant owner fined RM30k for producing false invoice

KUALA LUMPUR: A restaurant owner was fined RM30,000 by the Sessions Court here today for submitting false food sales invoices to the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK).

Judge Wan Mohd Norisham Wan Yaakob meted out the fine on Kamarul Ariffin Hamzah, 41, after finding that the defence failed to raise reasonable doubts against the prosecution's case.

Kamarul Ariffin paid the fine.

In the judgment, Wan Mohd Norhisham said Kamarul Ariffin should have a complete record of his sales and purchase after having been in the business for 20 years.

"He also did not produce a record of the invoice that could support his defence," he added.

Kamarul Ariffin, as the owner of the Exotic Fish River Restaurant, was charged with submitting false invoices to the assistant director of the ministry's Enforcement Division office at Persiaran Perdana, Putrajaya, on Nov 25, 2015.

He was charged under Section 26 of the Price Control and Anti-Profiteering Act 2011, which provides a fine of up to RM50,000 or imprisonment not exceeding two years, upon conviction.

In mitigation Kamarul Ariffin's lawyer, A. Ravikumar said his client had high blood pressures and was suffering from diabetes and kidney problem.

Deputy public prosecutor Sharifah Zulia Balqish Syed Agil prosecuted. — Bernama