Court allows application by Najib, Nazifuddin to postpone bankruptcy proceedings

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today allowed an application by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his son, Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin, to postpone the bankruptcy proceedings against them for failing to settle their tax arrears with the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) pending the disposal of their appeals at the Federal Court.

The father and son owed the IRB RM1.69 billion and RM37.6 million, respectively, in tax arrears.

Lawyer Wee Yeong Kang, representing Najib and Mohd Nazifuddin, when contacted by reporters said the court allowed hic clients' application during an online case management before High Court Deputy Registrar Ida Rahayu Sharif.

The proceeding was also attended by counsel Athari Faris Ammerry Hussein, on behalf of the IRB.

"The application to postpone the bankruptcy proceedings was made to enable the appeal of my two clients regarding a summary judgment obtained by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) which ordered them to pay the tax arrears to be decided by the Federal Court," said Wee, adding that the court set Oct 4 for case management.

The government, through the IRB, filed a bankruptcy notice in the High Court here on Feb 4, 2021 against Najib and Mohd Nazifuddin as debtors.

According to the notice, Najib is required to pay RM1.69 billion with five per cent interest rate per annum on the total balance from July 22, 2020 (date of High Court decision) to Feb 4, 2021, which is RM45.9 million and costs of RM15,000, and as of Feb 4, 2021, the amount payable is RM1,738,804,204.16.

As for Mohd Nazifuddin, he has to pay RM37.6 million with five percent interest rate per annum on the total balance from July 6, 2020 (date of High Court decision) to Feb 4, 2021 which is RM1.1 million and costs of RM10,000 and as of Feb 4, 2021 the amount payable is RM38,758,370.93.

Najib and Mohd Nazifuddin failed in their appeal in the Court of Appeal on Sept 9, 2021 to set aside the summary judgments, but allowed their application to stay the judgment order pending the hearing of the application for leave to appeal in the Federal Court.

On May 10, the Federal Court granted leave to appeal to Najib and Mohd Nazifuddin regarding the judgment obtained by the IRB in the tax arrears case.

-- BERNAMA