KUALA LUMPUR: Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor is seeking to strike out 12 charges of money laundering involving more than RM7 million.
The wife of the former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak filed the application through Messrs. Reza Rahim & Rajivan.
Rosmah, in her supporting affidavit, argued that all charges against her are defective, premature, and inconclusive.
She claimed that there was no order, directive, request, or demand indicating that the amounts in those charges are subjected to tax payment under the Income Tax Act (ITA) 1967.
"At all material times, the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) director-general has never delivered any assessment, requests, or demands as provided under the ITA.
"The right to determine whether those amounts are subject to taxation in a situation where the tax assessment is disputed is with the Special Commissioners of Income Tax (SCIT) and not the court.
"The criminal court is not the appropriate forum for such determination. If the (criminal) court continues to hear this case, it will usurp the function of SCIT," claimed Rosmah.
Rosmah also asserted that she has the substantive right to refer the question of whether the contested amounts are subject to taxation to the SCIT, a right that has been denied to her in this case.
"I have substantive and constitutional rights to be treated fairly and to appeal any assessments made by the IRB, which have been clearly denied to me in this case.
"It is clear that the charges are premature and do not disclose any legal wrongdoing, and therefore, are defective and unfounded," she added.
High Court Judge K. Muniandy set Dec 13 to hear the application.
Rosmah is facing 12 charges of money laundering involving RM7,097,750 and five charges of failing to declare her income to the IRB.
She is accused of committing the offences between Dec 4, 2013, and June 8, 2017.
The trial which commenced on Aug 24, saw the first prosecution witness testify that a total of RM1,098,200 was deposited into her bank account in a span of four years.
Affin Bank CDM assistant manager Nor Ashikin Abdullah said the funds were remitted in stages into Rosmah's account between 2014 and 2017.
Earlier, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib in his opening statement contended that the accused received millions of ringgit despite being unemployed.
He said Rosmah also never disclosed to the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) about the monies she received.
Akram said the accused used the services of Seri Perdana Complex residential house manager Roslan Sohari to make these deposits on her behalf.
The monies, he said, were subsequently utilised by the accused to pay telephone and credit card bills incurred by the accused and members of her family.