PETALING JAYA: Johor speaker Datuk Mohd Puad Zarkashi’s (pic) remarks against the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) made clear the Umno supreme council member's ignorance of the law, says lawyer Rafique Rashid.
"Mohd Puad’s Facebook posting evinces his ignorance in law and it borders contempt especially so when this morning (Oct 16) the Federal Court affirmed the summary judgement decision in LHDN’s favour," said Rafique, who is Pejuang information chief, in a statement on Monday (Oct 16).
Rafique said the Income Tax Act allows case appeals to be made to the Finance Minister.
"Mohd Puad, stating that the LHDN was 'abused' by Dr Mahathir, has callously disregarded the LHDN and by extension the Finance Minister," said Rafique.
"So, instead of blaming someone else, Mohd Puad, as an ardent supporter of Najib, should be approaching the Prime Minister or Finance Minister for assistance," added Rafique.
Rafique also said that Mohd Puad’s call to LHDN to withdraw its case against Najib was insensitive of the work put in by LHDN officers in bringing the case against Najib and his son Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin.
On Sunday (Oct 15), Mohd Puad said the LHDN should stop its suit demanding more than RM1.7bil in tax arrears from Najib.
Puad said that after a witness told the High Court on Thursday (Oct 12) that Najib returned more than RM2bil to Tanore Finance Corporation in Singapore, it was clear that the former premier did not use any for the funds for personal purposes.
Last Thursday (Oct 12), Assistant Director of the Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Division ACP Foo Wei Min said his investigations revealed RM2,034,350,000 was returned to Tanore Finance Corporation in Singapore through five transactions between Aug 2 and 23 in 2013.
Puad also said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, during his former tenure as premier, had politicised the LHDN to victimise Najib.
On Monday (Oct 16), the Federal Court ruled that Najib and his son needed to settle RM1.69bil and RM37.6mil in unpaid taxes.
In May last year, Najib and his son were given the nod by the Federal Court to proceed with their appeals against the decisions of the two High Courts in allowing the LHDN’s application to enter a summary judgement to recover more than RM1.7bil in tax arrears.
A summary judgement was obtained when the court decided on a case only through written submissions, without a full trial or calling any witnesses to the stand.
In 2019, Putrajaya filed a suit against Najib, seeking the former premier to pay nearly RM1.7bil, interest at five percent a year from the date of judgement, as well as costs and other relief deemed fit by the court.
