BANKRUPTCY NOTICE: NAJIB TO FILE STAY ORDER
Lawyer says action against ex-PM an orchestrated attempt to make things difficult for him
DATUK Seri Najib Razak will file a stay order against the bankruptcy notice served on him following his failure to pay RM1.69 billion in additional income tax arrears demanded by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
His lawyer, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said he would file the necessary documents soon seeking not only a stay of the bankruptcy notice but also on the amount being sought by the IRB.
“I have been instructed by Najib to file all these applications as soon as possible,” he said
He described the bankruptcy action against the former prime minister as an orchestrated attempt to make things difficult for his client.
Shafee said this could be seen from the timing of the notice, that events which unfolded during the recently concluded Umno general assembly had something to do with it.
He said it all began when Umno decided not to work with Perikatan Nasional (PN) any more.
“We were informed the notice would be served on us about one week ago.
“It happened two days after the Umno general assembly when the party announced it wanted to break away from PN.
“This is clearly an act of intimidation, extortion and abuse of power,” he said here yesterday.
It was reported that the IRB had filed a notice of bankruptcy against Najib at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
According to the notice, he has to pay RM1.69 billion with an interest of five per cent a year between July 22, 2020 and Feb 4, 2021, amounting to RM45.9 million from the date of the order of the summary judgment, as well as costs of RM15,000.
These bring the accumulated sum demanded by the IRB to RM1.73 billion.
The IRB had said that if Najib does not comply with the requests stated in the notice, bankruptcy proceedings could be instituted against him.
On July 22, the High Court allowed the IRB’s application for a summary judgment to be entered against Najib in its suit to recover the RM1.69 billion in taxes from him for the period between 2011 and 2017.
Subsequently, the court ordered Najib to pay the amount.
Najib had, on March 31, applied for a stay of the court’s order for him to settle the RM1.69 billion pending his appeal at the Court of Appeal against the summary judgment order.
The notice of appeal was filed on July 27 last year. The court has fixed June 11 to hear the matter.