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Justice K Muniandy said the charges against the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak were illegal and flawed as they did not comply with provisions in the Criminal Procedure Code.
“The charges amounted to duplicity and multiplicity. Furthermore, they did not disclose any offence,” he said.
Muniandy said the money laundering charges were defective as they only revealed that Rosmah had deposited money in her account at Affin Bank Bhd.
“Merely depositing money is not tantamount to indulging in unlawful activities and committing money laundering offences,” he said, adding that the accused could not be left guessing when preparing her defence.
Muniandy also said the five tax evasion charges brought under the Income Tax Act 1967 were premature as Rosmah’s appeal on the tax assessment was still pending before the Special Commissioners of Income Tax.
“They must first determine the amount of tax she should pay to the Inland Revenue Board and, if dissatisfied, she also has the avenue of judicial review,” he said.
Deputy public prosecutors Ahmad Akram Gharib, Mustaffa P Kunyalam, Poh Yih Tinn, and T Deepa Nair appeared for the prosecution.
Lawyers Amer Hamzah Arshad, Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, Reza Rahim, Rajivan Nambiar, and Joshua Tay represented Rosmah.
Rosmah, 72, was standing trial on 12 money laundering charges involving RM7.09 million and five charges of failing to declare her income to the Inland Revenue Board.
She was accused of committing the offences between Dec 4, 2013 and June 8, 2017, and was charged on Oct 4, 2018.
On May 3 last year, Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, sent representations to the Attorney-General’s Chambers, seeking that the prosecution drop the charges brought in the current case against her. However, no decision was taken on them.
Trial began on Aug 24 last year with two prosecution witnesses taking the stand. It stalled two weeks later after Rosmah filed her striking-out application on Sept 6.
Outside court, Amer said Rosmah’s representations had become academic following her acquittal today.
Meanwhile, Akram said the prosecution would file an appeal.
Rosmah still has an appeal pending before the Court of Appeal over her conviction in the RM1.25 billion corruption case on a solar energy project for rural schools in Sarawak.
The appellate court will hear her appeal on March 5 to disqualify trial judge Zaini Mazlan, who convicted her in the case. If dismissed, the court will proceed to hear the merits of Rosmah’s appeal against her conviction and sentence on March 19.
In September 2022, Rosmah was sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined RM970 million, or in default another 10 years in prison to commence after her initial jail term is completed.
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