AN Inland Revenue Board (IRB) officer told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today that a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigating officer did not ask him to make an income assessment for a sum of RM1 million allegedly received by Shahrir Ab Samad.

Deputy head of the celebrity, public and various entertainers desk audit unit, IRB assessment division, Tuan Zulkfli Tuan Lah, 48, said during cross-examination by lawyer Syed Faisal Al-Edros Syed Abdullah Al-Edros that the investigating officer also did not provide any documents about receipt of the funds, merely telling him that Shahrir received the money.

Shahrir, a former Johor Baru MP, is on trial charged with failing to declare RM1 million to the IRB, which he received from jailed former prime minister Najib Razak in November 2013.

Syed Faisal: If we want to determine whether the RM1 million Shahrir received amounted to an income or not, the best way to do it is with a tax assessor like yourself?

Tuan Zulkfli: Correct.

The 21st prosecution witness also agreed with the lawyer that it was within IRB’s jurisdiction to determine whether the RM1 million received by Shahrir was considered income.

Tuan Zulkfli said the investigating officer had not discussed with him Shahrir’s conversation with Najib about not campaigning due to a lack of funds.

Syed Faisal: When Najib heard about this matter, he issued a cheque for RM1 million to him Shahrir, which was what led to this charge. So, did the investigating officer tell Tuan Zulkfli about the issuance of the cheque?

Tuan Zulkfli: Not issuance of the cheque but that the recipient (Shahrir) received the RM1 million cheque.

Syed Faisal repeated his question to Tuan Zulkfli about the history behind the cheque, but Tuan Zulkfli again said he did not know.

The witness said he was not sure, when the lawyer suggested that the RM1 million received by Shahrir was not taxable income because it was money entrusted to him to be spent on the Puri Langkasuka project and not for his personal use.

Shahrir, 72, is charged with money laundering, by not stating his real income in the income tax return form for the assessment year 2013, which is a violation of section 113(1)(a) of the Income Tax Act 1967.

He is charged with committing the offence at LHDN, Duta Branch, Government Office Complex, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim, on April 25, 2014, under section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001, which provides a maximum fine of RM5 million, or imprisonment for up to five years, or both if found guilty. – Bernama, October 6, 2022.