KUALA LUMPUR – "Being freed on my birthday is not only a meaningful gift for me but also a gift for my Bossku.”
These were the words of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor after being acquitted and discharged by the High Court on Thursday of 12 charges of money laundering, totalling RM7,097,750, and five charges of failing to declare her income to the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN).
Judge K. Muniandy made the ruling after granting Rosmah's application to strike out all the charges against her.
For the money laundering charges, Rosmah had been accused under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) 2001, which carries penalties under the same section.
On the LHDN-related charges, she was accused of failing to submit her income tax returns for the assessment years 2013 to 2017 to the Director General of Inland Revenue by April 30 of the respective years, from 2014 to 2018.
Rosmah was alleged to have failed to comply with the requirement under Section 77(1) of the Income Tax Act 1967 without reasonable excuse, in contravention of Section 112 of the same Act.
The offences were said to have occurred at Affin Bank Berhad, Rubber Research Institute Branch, Jalan Ampang, between December 4, 2013, and June 8, 2017, and at the LHDN headquarters, Government Complex, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim, between May 1, 2014, and May 1, 2018.
Aside from this trial, Rosmah is still facing an appeal against the ruling by Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan (now a Court of Appeal judge), who sentenced her to 10 years in prison and fined her RM970 million for three corruption charges related to the RM1.25 billion hybrid solar project.