CHINESE businesswoman Qiaoxia (Stina) Wu has defended herself and her company At Helmsman Group, saying they were not involved in the process that led to her company being flagged as having submitted a fake tax-good-standing certificate to the ministry of home affairs.
Wu blamed her financial consultants employed to help her company be in compliance with the law. “The certificate looked legitimate,” she said, adding that there was no way she could have suspected that the certificate was fraudulent.
She told The Issue that due to language barriers and the intricate tax compliance system, she has opted to hire a financial consultant in a bid to ensure she is on the right side of the law. She was shocked and confused to be approached by police who interviewed her on the matter, while NamRA was telling her that the certificate was fake. “I fully cooperated with the police and their investigations,” she said. She said that she has been concerned since the police notified her of their investigations.
The Issue this month wrote that Wu’s At Helmsman Group was found to have submitted a falsified tax clearance certificate while applying for a work permit for one of its employees. The said tax-good-standing certificate was issued on 24 October 2023, but was declared ‘inauthentic’ by NamRA a month later.
It was also reported that she has been the subject of multiple tax-related investigations in the past. Wu clarified that her company was merely undergoing a ‘routine’ audit by the ministry of finance. She said this is the second time the finance ministry is conducting such an audit. The first was carried out in 2018. “We have been cooperating and providing all the requested documents,” she said.
Wu bemoaned the notion that she was politically connected or that she got special favours from the government.
“I don’t do government tenders or business with the government; I am a property developer,” she said.
She said she primarily deals with the private sector and buys her properties from private individuals or companies, with the exception of some town councils that sell her land to develop.
“I also don’t meddle with politics,” she said
