Shafee labels tax suit against him as 'political move'

 

Lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah dismissed the RM9.41 million tax suit against him as a "political move".

The legal representative for former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak contended that the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) has yet to serve the suit’s cause papers on him until today.

“We have not received anything. How did IRB issue this (suit)? Very unethical. It has not been served on me yet, but it (news about the tax suit) is already out in the (news) papers. Very typical of IRB.

“I regard this (tax suit) as a political move,” Shafee said at the Palace of Justice this afternoon.

The lawyer was met by the media after he had represented Najib in the RM42 million SCR International corruption appeal before the Court of Appeal.

Shafee was referring to the IRB’s tax suit against him to recover a total of RM9.41 million in alleged tax arrears for the assessment years 2011 to 2014 and 2016.

According to the cause papers filed by the IRB on May 6, the government as the plaintiff is seeking alleged tax arrears totalling RM9,414,708.32, which was calculated from the assessment years as well as incurred penalties from alleged non-payment of the arrears.

The government also seeks interest on the RM9.41 million calculated at five percent from the date of judgment to the date of full realisation, costs, and any other relief deemed fit by the court.

According to the online cause list, the tax suit is fixed for case management before the Kuala Lumpur High Court Registry on June 8.

Shafee, who represents Najib in multiple ongoing 1MDB-linked criminal cases, is facing a separate, ongoing money-laundering case involving RM9.5 million that the lawyer was alleged to have received from the former prime minister.

In September 2018 at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court, Shafee was charged with two counts of money laundering and two counts of making false statements linked to the purported RM9.5 million.

The criminal case has since been transferred to the Kuala Lumpur High Court. - Mkini