KUALA LUMPUR – The RM9.5 million money-laundering proceeding involving lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah today has been postponed to tomorrow.
The 6th witness, former officer from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), Syed Nasrul Fahmi Syed Mohamad took a medical leave today (MC).
Following that, the prosecution team requested High Court Judge, Datuk Jamil Hussin to postpone the proceeding tomorrow with the agreement of the defence team.
“Our witness could not be here today as he took MC this morning for not feeling well. We were only informed about this around 8.00 am,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor, Afzainizam Abdul Aziz.
Muhammad Shafee is currently facing two counts of charges over involvement in money-laundering for receiving cheques from former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak which was deposited into his CIMB Bank Berhad account.
He received a RM4.3 million cheque on 13 September 2013 and another RM5.2 million on 17 February 2014. He is charged under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA).
Upon conviction, the lawyer could be fined RM5 million or sentenced to five years in prison of both.
He is also facing two counts of charges for being directly involved in the transactions involving profits from illegal activities by making incorrect and contradicting statements under Section 113(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1967.
Muhammad Shafee was at the court gallery when the postponement was announced. The defence team was supposed to continue their cross-examination of the witness today.
According to Afzainizam, after cross-examining Syed Nasrul, the defence would continue questioning the next witness, the officer who investigated Muhammad Shafee. -MalaysiaGazette
