KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s supposed proceeds that were received for legal services rendered to Datuk Seri Najib Razak were not duly reported to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), the High Court heard today. 

At the start of Shafee’s RM9.5 million money laundering trial, the prosecution posited that the senior lawyer had concealed payments from Najib that he received in 2013 and 2014, and therefore, had allegedly engaged in unlawful activities. 

“The prosecution will prove that the accused as an advocate and solicitor received a sum of RM9.5 million as his fee but intentionally suppressed that fact from Revenue. 

“The payments came in two tranches. The first was received on September 5, 2013. It was a sum of RM4.3 million. The cheque for this sum was deposited into his personal account with CIMB Bank at a branch close to his office.  

Advertisement

“This payment forms part of the subject matter for the first charge. The accused did not declare this sum to Revenue in the return he filed as required by law. We will establish these facts during our case. 

“The second tranche of RM5.2 million was deposited into the accused’s same bank account on February 17, 2014. This forms the subject matter of the second charge. The accused did not declare this to Revenue in the return he filed as required by law. We will establish these facts during our case,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Afzainizam Abdul Aziz in front of High Court Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin. 

In 2018, Shafee was charged at the Sessions Court for four charges under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001(AMLA). 

Advertisement

In the first charge, Shafee was accused of receiving unlawful proceeds in the form of an AmIslamic cheque of RM4.3 million into his bank account on September 13, 2013, from Najib, proffered under Section 4(1)(a) of the AMLA.  

In the second charge for an offence under the same section, Shafee was accused of receiving another cheque of the same nature and from the same sender on February 17, 2014, this time amounting to RM5.2 million.  

He was accused of committing these two offences, during their respective times, at the Bukit Tunku branch of CIMB Bank.  

Shafee was accused in the third charge of not declaring his earnings accurately for the financial year that ended on December 31, 2013, in which he did not include the RM4.3 million in his tax filings.  

For the fourth charge, Shafee is accused of not declaring his earnings accurately by omitting the RM5.2 million in his 2014 tax filing. 

Afzainizam then explained that the prosecution also rejected Shafee’s explanation towards the payments to investigators that the payments were supposedly his legal fees as it was deposited into his personal account and not under his law firm, Shafee & Co. 

The prosecution will also set out to disprove Shafee’s further explanation that the monies received from Najib was a loan pending rationalisation of the fee payable for his services.

 

“In the course of this statement being recorded, the accused handed to the recording officer a letter purportedly to have been sent by him on September 12, 2013 and purported to carry Najib’s initials.

 

“The prosecution does not accept this letter as genuine. It will be our case that the letter was brought into existence at a time well after July 28, 2017,” said Afzainizam.

 

Taking the stand as the first witness today was AmBank Jalan Raja Chulan branch manager R. Uma Devi who testified that the two cheques issued by Najib to Shafee originated from his AmBank account ending with the number 906. 

 

Uma had also previously testified against Najib in his SRC trial and is due to take the stand in the 1MDB-Tanore trial.  

 

Also taking the stand today was CIMB Bukit Tunku Branch Manager Rosnita Ahmad who confirmed to the courts, based on Shafee’s personal bank statements, that both payments had indeed been deposited into his personal account.