[UPDATED] Govt withdraws case against Nooryana Najib over RM10.3 mil unpaid taxes

KUALA LUMPUR – The government has withdrawn without costs its case against Nooryana Najwa, the daughter of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, over the recovery of RM10.3 million in unpaid income tax.

The office of the chief registrar of the Federal Court informed the media this morning that a notice of discontinuance had been filed by the lawyers of the case, which has now been removed from the registry.

A bid by the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) to obtain a summary judgment against Nooryana was due to be heard today at the Court of Appeal in an online session. 

The IRB was to have appealed against a high court’s dismissal of its application for the summary judgement to be entered on Nooryana. A summary judgement is where a court decides a case without hearing the testimony of witnesses.

Nooryana Najwa’s lawyer Wee Yeong Kang said that IRB had filed the notice of discontinuance last Monday.

“Our client had settled her tax case after her tax agent and IRB went through her case,” he was quoted as saying.

Shah Alam High Court judge Datuk Faizah Jamaludin, in August 2020, had dismissed the IRB’s application to obtain a summary judgment against Nooryana to recover RM10.3 million in unpaid income tax.

A spokesperson from the office of the chief registrar said it had received a filing of the notice of discontinuance, stating that the government had withdrawn the appeal without costs.

In July 2019, the government, through the IRB, named Nooryana as defendant for failing to submit individual tax returns for the assessment years from 2011 to 2017.

The amount she allegedly owed, including increases, totalled RM10,335,292.36. – The Vibes, October 5, 2022