KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 6): The prosecution and defence are still ironing out the details of Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor's third letter of representation to drop all 17 money-laundering and tax evasion charges.
There were other agencies involved and additional procedures to be adhered to, as the case against the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak also involves taxation, deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib informed the court on Friday.
"I informed the court previously that we were reaching a final decision on the letter of representation, However, as this concerns tax issues, there are certain procedures we need to iron out with the Inland Revenue Board and other agencies, and that takes time," he said.
Previously, during proceedings in August, the defence and prosecution said they had reached an "agreement" on Rosmah's third letter of representation, and requested for a later date to inform the court of the outcome.
On Friday, High Court judge K Muniandy voiced his concern over the lengthy period over which this particular trial has dragged on. He noted that the case was filed in 2018, and that the court has to complete all cases prior to 2022 by year end.
He then instructed parties to continue with their submissions for Rosmah's application to strike out the charges, and set Oct 11 and Nov 12 for the parties to complete their submissions.
Rosmah filed the application in October last year on the grounds that they overlap one another and breach her constitutional right to a fair trial.
Rosmah was represented by Joshua Tay during Friday's proceedings.
She is facing 17 charges involving RM7.1 million transferred into her personal bank account between 2013 and 2017. The charges were framed under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
On the first eight counts, she is charged with money laundering by directly engaging in a transaction involving proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to RM1.1 million that were deposited into her account.
On the ninth to 12th counts, she is charged with directly engaging in 227 transactions involving proceeds of unlawful activities totalling RM6 million, which were also deposited into her account.
On the 13th to 17th counts, she is charged with engaging in money laundering by failing to file a return on the sum that was deposited into her account as required under the Income Tax Act 1967.
Prosecutors have flagged in their opening statement that Rosmah had large sums of money deposited into her account despite having no independent source of income.