KUALA LUMPUR (June 2): Former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pictured) has applied for a stay and the striking out of the bankruptcy notice of RM1.69 billion in taxes purportedly owed to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).

In the application filed on Monday to strike out the notice, the Pekan Member of Parliament (MP) in his affidavit sighted by theedgemarkets.com alleged that the notice issued to him was in mala fide (bad intention), oppressive and an abuse of the court process.

He also alleged that the Feb 4 bankruptcy notice issued against him was a ploy for political conspiracy, and backed by malice and the High Court judgement last July where the summary judgement entered against him was not a final judgement within the context of the Income Tax Act 1967 and Insolvency Act 1967.

“Hence, the judgement creditor's (IRB) request to apply for the bankruptcy notice is premature, considering that his appeals against the High Court July decision and Form Q are pending in the Court of Appeal and the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT),” the former premier said.

The Pekan MP and former finance minister also applied for a stay of the bankruptcy proceedings pending against him owing to the hearing of the appeal in the Court of Appeal on June 16 over the High Court decision that entered a summary judgement against him.

On July 22, High Court Justice Datuk Ahmad Bache entered a summary judgement against Najib and ordered the Pekan MP to pay RM1.69 billion in tax owed to the government, which he is appealing against.

'I do not have RM7.3 billion'

In his application to strike out the notice, the former premier affirmed that he never had or had any money in the range of RM7,328,454,220.00 (RM7.328 billion) that should be taxed.

He claimed that being an MP and former Umno president, he was subject to personal attacks and that the dominant theme of the attacks was on alleged financial impropriety, of which he had been charged in the present courts after the 14th general election (GE14).

“When the Pakatan Harapan government took over, the election win was not enough. The new government led by my political rivals continued to vilify me by alleging that I amassed billions of ringgit.

“Taking the above into account, there is no better way to do this than to stick an astronomical tax assessment against me to prove the exact point, with the ultimate objective to bankrupt me and completely remove me from the political landscape before I even have a chance to dispute the assessment,” he said.

The former premier also claimed that the attack against him was not only limited to him, but also his family members, including his sons and daughter, who were also subject to extra taxes.

Najib maintained that he had filed his appeal with the Court of Appeal and also with the SCIT, alleging that there was also double taxation imposed on him.

On Feb 4, following the High Court decision on July 22, the IRB applied to enforce a bankruptcy notice on the former premier.

This followed the IRB's claim against Najib in 2019 after the tax authority concluded that the former premier did not declare taxable income of almost RM4 billion for the period — including RM2.6 billion which went into his personal bank accounts and which he consistently claimed was a personal donation from a member of the Saudi royal family.

Today, case management was brought before High Court deputy registrar Ida Rahayu Sharif online, who instructed the IRB to file an affidavit in reply to Najib's striking out and stay application in 14 days after the end of the present movement control order (MCO 3.0).

Najib is to file an affidavit in reply to the IRB's affidavit after that and case management has been fixed for the case on July 22.

The former premier was represented by Wee Yeong Kang of Shafee & Co, while the IRB or the judgement creditor was represented by senior federal counsels Al-Hummidallah Idrus and Muhammad Nabil Abdul Halim.

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