A Lagos High Court in Igbosere on Thursday fixed October 10 to resume the trial of Nollywood actress and producer, Monalisa Chinda-Coker, for alleged tax evasion.
The trial should have resumed on June 5 but proceedings were stalled due to the Eid-el-Fitr holiday.
Chinda-Coker is facing a two-count charge of failure to file annual tax returns and pay income tax on her company, Monalisa Code Productions, for six years.
According to the charge, Monalisa Code Productions operates its business in Lekki, Lagos State.
Count one reads: “Failure to furnish and file annual tax returns for the purpose of personal income taxation with the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), contrary to Section 94(1) of the Personal Income Tax Act 2004 (as amended).”
The particulars of the count stated that Chinda-Coker “of Monalisa Code Productions, being a taxable person in Nigeria and carrying on business at… Lekki… failed to furnish and file tax returns on your personal income for the years 2011 to 2016.”
Count two reads: “Failure to pay income tax, contrary to Section 56 of the Lagos State Revenue Administration Law of 2006.”
At the last hearing of the matter on April 1, Justice Adedayo Akintoye renewed a bench warrant for Chinda-Coker’s arrest, following an application by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice.
The state alleged that Chinda-Coker repeatedly failed to honour a summons ordering her to appear in court for trial since the case began in 2017.
On March 5, the actress, in a statement through her lawyers, Emeka Odikpo and Associates, refuted allegations of tax evasion.
