KUALA LUMPUR: All money laundering and tax evasion charges against Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor were illegal and flawed, the High Court ruled today.
Judge K. Muniandy said the charges were duplicitous and failed to comply with the provisions of Section 163 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
"What is stated in the charges are merely the monies allegedly deposited into the account of the accused.
"It per se does not meet the requirement of proceeds of unlawful activity but only the income not disclosed to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
"To reiterate, without any identifiable proceeds of unlawful activity, there is no transaction or dealing involved to amount to a money laundering offence.
"Surveying the preferred charges against the accused, the only act alleged in the charges is a deposit of monies into accounts and nothing more," he said before acquitting Rosmah from all the charges.
On the tax evasion charges, Muniandy said the offence is only triggered if all available avenues under the Income Tax Act (ITA) have been exhausted.
"Section 112 of the ITA is only triggered after the domestic redress avenue under the ITA is exhausted.
"There is no predicate or serious offence committed by the accused yet as stipulated in the charge, no unlawful activity, what more emanating transactions culminating into a dealing to form a money laundering offence.
"The charges are not based on a proper appreciation and understanding of the laws involved, including the fundamental rule of law.
"Moreover, the date of the (tax evasion) charges is the same as the date of the money laundering offence.
"Thus, the proceeds of unlawful activity ought to be identified by it is not," he said.
Lead prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib has said they would appeal the High Court's decision.
On Aug 23, Rosmah's lawyer Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin told the court that the defence and the prosecution had reached an agreement to settle the case.
However, the agreement was not finalised by the prosecution.
Previously, Rosmah sent three representation letters seeking to quash the charges.
The wife of incarcerated former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was initially charged in the Sessions Court on Oct 4, 2018, before the case was transferred to the High Court.
She faced 12 charges of money laundering involving RM7,097,750 and five charges of failing to declare her income to the Inland Revenue Board.
She was accused of committing the offence between Dec 4, 2013 and June 8, 2017.