Court throws out Shafee’s bid to expunge taxman’s witness statement

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today dismissed Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s application to expunge over half of the written witness statement of a former Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) officer in relation to his money laundering case involving RM9.5 million.

Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin in his judgment said there was no probability that 33 out of 51 paragraphs of the witness statement of Syed Nasrul Fahmi Syed Mohamad, the seventh prosecution witness, prejudiced Shafee as the accused.

“In my opinion, the 33 paragraphs in the written statement of the seventh prosecution witness are relevant to proving the third and fourth charges against the accused,” he said.

He said the witness statement could always be challenged by the defence during cross-examination.

He also said that whether or not the witness statement should be accepted and whether it could prove the charges against Shafee were different issues and for the court to decide.

“The application to expunge the 33 paragraphs in the seventh prosecution witness’ written statement is hereby dismissed,” he said.

On Sept 13, 2018, Shafee pleaded not guilty to two charges of receiving RM9.5 million in proceeds from unlawful activities through two cheques issued by former prime minister Najib Razak, deposited into his CIMB Bank account.

He was also charged with two counts of engaging in transactions resulting from illegal activities, namely submitting incorrect tax returns – a violation of Paragraph 113 (1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1967 – for the financial years ending December 31, 2013, and December 31, 2014.