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KUALA LUMPUR (May 9): Lim Guan Eng, who is suing Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for saying he had allegedly cancelled tax breaks given to Yayasan Albukhary — a charitable foundation owned by business tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary — during his tenure as finance minister, has slammed Muhyiddin's claims as "nothing more than a political stunt".
Lim said this in his reply to Muhyiddin's statement of defence to the defamation suit.
Lim also questioned why the Bersatu chief chose to raise the matter now, just as he is facing criminal charges, according to court filings seen by The Edge.
The DAP chief said Muhyiddin was a fellow minister when Pakatan Harapan was in government — when the issue allegedly took place — and could have raised his objection if he saw any wrongdoings then, but did not do so.
In fact, Lim pointed out that Muhyiddin had 33 months to reveal any alleged wrongdoings regarding the issue — starting from the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government in February 2020 till the time Muhyiddin made the allegedly defamatory statements in three occasions in March this year.
"[Muhyiddin] was the then minister of Home Affairs after the 14th General Election under the Pakatan Harapan government. The fact [Muhyiddin] did not even raise any issue relating to the alleged revocation of the tax exemption to Yayasan Al-Bukhary earlier but [is] raising the said issue now when [he is] facing criminal charges [is] nothing but a political stunt," he said.
In the reply filed through his lawyers Guok Partnership on May 5, Lim said the alleged defamatory comments was a "desperate attempt" by Muhyiddin to distract the public from the criminal charges he is facing.
Muhyiddin became the country's second former prime minister to be charged in court for corruption when he was slapped with seven criminal charges in March involving money laundering and corruption. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Four of the charges he faced were for abuse of power, for allegedly using his position during his tenure as PM to help his party, Bersatu, to obtain gratification amounting to RM232.5 million from corporate entities and an individual between March 1, 2020 and Aug 20, 2021. The companies are Bukhary Equity Sdn Bhd, Nepturis Sdn Bhd, and Mamfor Sdn Bhd, while the individual is one Datuk Azman Yusoff.
Three of the charges were for taking proceeds from illegal activities from Bukhary Equity; two of which involved RM195 million of the RM232.5 million that Bersatu received, while one involved RM5 million.
Lim added that Muhyiddin had tarnished his image by unnecessarily dragging him into Muhyiddin's "political circus" by making the alleged defamatory statements.
Lim, who is also the Bagan MP, claimed the defamatory statements Muhyiddin made implied that he had abused his position and power as the then finance minister by authorising or instructing the Inland Revenue Board to impose tax and penalties on a charitable organisation when it should not be taxed.
This, he said, also implied he had committed a criminal offence while in office.
The statements made by Muhyiddin, who is also the Pagoh MP, also implied that Lim was racist, anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and was intentionally targeting the Islamic charitable organisation, Lim said.
Lim maintains no "cancellation" of tax breaks
Lim also maintained that there had been no "cancellation" of the tax exempt status given to the Islamic charitable organisation.
Both Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the Ministry of Finance have said he did not cancel the approved tax exemption given to Yayasan Albukhary, he said.
Anwar commented on the matter in Parliament on March 21, while the MOF released a statement two days later, stating neither Lim nor the ministry's officials had cancelled the approved tax exemption.
Notwithstanding this, Muhyiddin, in his statement of defence, claimed he wanted Lim to prove that the latter did not revoke the tax-exempt status.
In response, Lim said it was an illogical demand because there was no such revocation.
Muhyiddin also claimed that he had received a letter from Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary during his tenure as prime minister, in which the tycoon had appealed against the IRB's decision of not granting the tax exemption given to Yayasan Albukhary.
Muhyiddin said he had subsequently forwarded the letter to then finance minister, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz for his consideration, adding Zafrul later allowed the appeal sometime in 2021.
To this, Lim said Muhyiddin could have "easily" produced this letter to prove a revocation had to be reversed, but noted Muhyiddin had not done so.
Lim is seeking, among others, general, aggravated and punitive damages to be determined by the court.
He is also seeking an injunction against Muhyiddin and/or his agents from reiterating similar statements, and for the statements to be removed from Muhyiddin's Facebook account.
Lim also wants an apology and retraction of all statements through Muhyiddin's Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as a published apology on all major newspapers and online portals.