KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor claims that the 17 charges she faces in her RM7.1 million money laundering and tax evasion case overlap one another.
In light of this, if the trial were to continue with the existing charges, the wife of jailed former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that it would breach her constitutional right to a fair trial.
"In addition, there is a possibility that I will be tried, convicted, and sentenced more than once for the same offence," she said in an affidavit filed two weeks ago.
In the court document sighted by The Edge, she added that the charges were also confusing, as the alleged money laundering offences and the alleged offences for tax evasion had been combined.
Rosmah said that the tax evasion charges were illogical, as a failure to declare one's income to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) does not mean the monies in one's account were from illegal activities.
In the filing through her lawyers at Messrs Reza Rahim & Rajivan, she added that the money laundering charges she faces were defective as they did not state what illegal activity or the predicate offence from whence the monies originated.
Rosmah said that she believed if the tax evasion charges were the predicate offence, then the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) who investigated this case had usurped the powers given to the IRB by law.
Rosmah's affidavit is in reply to deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Poh Yih Tinn's affidavit filed two weeks ago, where he stated that the charges against Rosmah were in order and not defective.
On this basis, the prosecution is seeking to dismiss Rosmah's application to strike out all 17 charges.
In the application filed on Sept 6, Rosmah is also seeking an acquittal.
In her application, she has contended that the charges levelled against her were baseless, defective, premature and/or did not disclose any legal offence.
She also said that charges brought against her were for allegedly failing to file her tax returns. However, there was no such instruction from the IRB which stated that the amounts in the charges were subject to taxes.
Rosmah also said that the right forum to determine if the amounts were indeed taxable is the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT), not the courts.
The hearing of the application has been set for Dec 13 before High Court judge K Muniandy.
Rosmah has also sent two letters of representation to the Attorney General’s Chambers to review the charges in this case.
In this trial, Rosmah faces 17 charges in total. The first until the 12th charge concern money laundering amounting to RM7.1 million, while the 13th to 17th charge concern not declaring the said amounts as revenue to the IRB.