Latest update April 1st, 2025 5:37 PM
Chinese national changes plea to not guilty in tax evasion case
…after ordered to pay over $10M to GRA
Kaieteur News – Jin Ming Wu, a Chinese national and owner of Prosperous Hardware Incorporated, has changed his plea to not guilty after initially admitting to charges of tax evasion.
The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) has ordered him to pay over $10 million in tax returns; a figure Wu claims is inaccurate. Wu, who resides at Lot 110 Regent Street, Georgetown, is accused of failing to submit individual income tax returns to the Commissioner General for the years 2022 to 2024. He faced one charge on behalf of his company and three individual charges related to his tax obligations for those years.
During his first court appearance at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty, Wu pleaded guilty to all the charges. However, during proceedings on Wednesday he changed his plea to not guilty for the charge pertaining to his company. This change followed a revelation by the prosecutor representing the GRA, who stated that the penalty for the offence is 10% of the tax assessment, totalling over $10 million in tax returns for the company.
Wu’s lawyer, Sasha King, told the court that the figures are inaccurate and urged the prosecutor to reassess the amount. Regarding the three individual charges, Wu is set to pay $859,154 to GRA, which he and his lawyer agreed to and maintained his guilty plea for those specific charges. He is required to make this payment within 21 days.
The case has been adjourned to October 30, 2024, for further proceedings.
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