Malay Mail senior journalist Lim Lee Ting, 32, said the statement entitled “Press Statement of Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah Pertaining to the RM9.5 million” was received on Sept 8, 2018, from Shafee’s son Muhammad Farhan, who is also his lawyer, and was subsequently processed into four news articles.
According to Lim, the four news stories written based on the media statement were reviewed and published on the Malay Mail website on the same day.
“All the news reports, among others, stated that Shafee claimed he had received RM9.5 million from Najib Razak not as payment for the prosecution’s case against Anwar Ibrahim, but for legal fees related to 46 election petitions involving Barisan Nasional and Umno in 2004 and 2006.
“One of the news reports from the processed media statement contained allegations that Shafee had been investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the issue of the RM9.5 million payment,” she said.
The third prosecution witness said this when reading her witness statement on the second day of Shafee’s trial, who is charged with receiving RM9.5 million in proceeds from illegal activities from Najib, and two counts of making false statements to the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN).
Lim said she received the six-page media statement attributed to Shafee’s lawyer, dated Sept 8, 2018, in PDF format via the WhatsApp application.
“I then sent the 15-paragraph media statement to the editor because I knew Farhan was a reliable source as the son of Shafee,” she said.
During the examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Natasha Chin, Lim also confirmed that she herself prepared the four news articles based on the media statement she received from Farhan.
Lim said a few days later, she learned from a news report written by her colleague that Shafee had been charged in court over the RM9.5 million issue.
“On Oct 23, 2018, I was contacted by the MACC to confirm the media statement I received from Farhan and a meeting was arranged with the case investigating officer, Mohamad Farid Jabar, at the Malay Mail office seven days later (on Oct 30).
“I was asked to compare and confirm the media statement I received (from Farhan) with the media statement shown by the MACC. I found that, apart from the different number of pages, the contents of these two media statements were mostly the same,” she said.
Answering a question from lawyer Harvinderjit Singh, who is representing Shafee, Lim said prior to Oct 23, 2018, she had never been contacted by any MACC officer to record a statement regarding the news she had written.
On Sept 13, 2018, Shafee pleaded not guilty to two charges of receiving money derived from illegal activities amounting to RM9.5 million through two cheques issued by Najib which were deposited into his CIMB Bank Bhd account.
He is alleged to have received a cheque for RM4.3 million on Sept 13, 2013, and another for RM5.2 million on Feb 17, 2014.
Shafee is accused of committing both offences at CIMB Bank, J2 & K1, Taman Tunku, Bukit Tunku, here, under Section 4 (1) (a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds from Illegal Activities Act 2001, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of RM5 million, or both, if convicted.
Shafee also faces two charges of engaging in transactions resulting from illegal activities, namely submitting incorrect tax returns, and in violation of Paragraph 113 (1) (a) of the Income Tax Act 1967 for the financial years ended Dec 31, 2013, and Dec 31, 2014.
The accused is charged with committing the offence at LHDN’s Jalan Duta branch at Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim here on March 3, 2015, and June 29, 2015, and faces a maximum jail sentence of 15 years and a fine of five times the total of the proceeds from illegal activities.
The trial before Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin continues on June 4.