Bankruptcy notice: How am I to pay lawyers? - Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak has questioned the action of the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) in serving him a bankruptcy notice recently.

In his Facebook update on Saturday, he also criticised the government for trying to bankrupt him with a law that he could not challenge in court.

“If it counts as a political contribution, it is not taxable. If it is taken into account as personal income from abroad, it has been tax exempted since 2004.

"If it is the result of robbery, is the result of robbery also taxed? Why charge me that it is the result of robbery?" he asked.

The Pekan MP also expressed frustration over the stripping of his rights.

“And since when is money returned to the sender after a period of only four months counted as income subject to a 40 per cent +10 per cent + 5 per cent tax penalty?

"I have been charged with a criminal case. I have been stripped of my assets for three years without any evidence," he added.

Earlier, the IRB filed a bankruptcy notice against the Pekan Member of Parliament for failing to pay additional tax arrears of RM1.69 billion for the period from 2011 to 2017 apart from five per cent for each year amounting to RM45.9 million from the date of direct judgment and costs.

“Two of my defence lawyers were also charged under the Money Laundering Act (AMLA) on the payment of legal fees from me was illegal.

"Apart from defending me, they now need to defend themselves. And now the government wants to bankrupt me with the IRB law which cannot be challenged in court," Najib added.

Najib questioned that neither anything was scheduled nor was he given the opportunity to appeal the validity of the additional tax amounting to RM1.74 billion to the Special Commissioner of Income Tax under the IRB.

"How am I want to hire a lawyer to defend me?" he asked again.

His defence team is filing an application to set aside the bankruptcy notice and adjourn the proceedings.

Earlier, lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who led the defence team, explained that the bankruptcy notice was clearly an abuse of process and a threat as well as a trick to undermine his client's position in UMNO.

In fact, the defence team also slammed the action as politically motivated.