KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 — The High Court here today discharged and acquitted Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor of 12 charges of money laundering involving RM7 million, as well as five charges of failing to declare her income to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB).
Judge K. Muniandy granted an order of acquittal after allowing Rosmah's application to have all charges against her quashed.
The application was based on the grounds that the charges were defective and failed to disclose the essential elements of the alleged offences.
Rosmah, 73, filed the application to strike out the charges in September 2023.
The hearing commenced on Dec 12 of the same year, following partial proceedings during which two witnesses had testified.
In his judgment, Judge Muniandy stated that the charges against Rosmah failed to specify that she was directly engaged in a transaction involving illegal proceeds, and did not clarify the nature of the transaction or how Rosmah was directly involved.
“The charges do not disclose the key elements of the offence of money laundering, including the transaction involving money laundering, the conduct of the accused, and the monies referred to in the charges. Additionally, the charges do not reveal a transaction as envisaged under Act 613 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001.
“The unlawful activity that was tied to the charges was also not disclosed but the proceeds of unlawful activity have appeared from nowhere,” he said.
The judge added that, without those elements, the charges merely describe the act of depositing a sum of money into a bank account, which in itself is not an offence by law.
“Some of the charges under the Income Tax Act 1967 overlap as the dates and amount stated correspond but the offences alleged to have been committed by the accused is still money laundering, wherein it has to emanate from a serious or predicate offence, forming unlawful activity, so there are no proceeds of it being laundered,” he said. — Bernama
