NINE QUESTIONS FOR SARAWAK REPORT: CURRENT / SYARIAH APPEALS COURT ON MAHMUD TAIB DIVORCE: SHAHNAZ HAD NO LOCUS STANDI

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2. RELATED: EX-WIFE EXAGGERATED MY WEALTH, MAHMUD SAYS
3. RELATED: NO NEED FOR ALIMONY AS ABU BEKIR PAID FOR EX-WIFE'S HOUSE, CARS

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HIGH COURT NOTIFIED OF MAHMUD'S SUCCESSFUL APPEAL

The Kuala Lumpur Shariah High Court was today informed that the Shariah Appeals Court had on July 14 ruled in favour of Sarawak entrepreneur Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib in the child maintenance claim brought by former wife Shahnaz Abdul Majid against him.

REPORTED BY BLOGTAKES

KUALA LUMPUR, (FMT) August 20, 2015–

The decision was conveyed to Kuala Lumpur Shariah High Court Registrar Nor Faiz Afsal Abu Bakar by Mahmud’s counsel Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, Saadiah Din and Muhammad Izaan Azalan. Mohd Rafie Mohd Shafie and Akberdin bin Abdul Kader, who act for Shahnaz were, however, not present.

The appellate court had last month unanimously ruled that Shahnaz had no locus standi to bring the claim as their son Raden Murya Abdul Taib Mahmud had reached the age of majority on his eighteenth birthday.

Born in December 1993, Raden is now 21 years old.

The Appellate Court comprising chairman Mahammad Ibrahim, Muhammad Asri Abdullah and Yusof Musa accordingly ruled that the application by Shahnaz on behalf of her son was incompetent and allowed Mahmud’s application to review a previous Syariah High Court order handed down in 2013 which had ruled in Shahnaz’s favour.

Shahnaz had sought to claim in excess of RM121 million for child maintenance for Raden, in the form of a terrace house in London (said to be worth RM60 million), a residence in Bukit Tunku (RM10 million), two Aston Martins (RM5.5 million), medical insurance (RM5 million) and a private trust fund (RM40 million) to be held and managed by her.

The Appellate Court’s decision effectively nullifies orders previously issued by the High Court which relate to child maintenance, including an ex-parte order obtained by Shahnaz against Mahmud in 2013 to pay interim maintenance of RM902,746 via Shahnaz, and committal proceedings taken out against Mahmud.

('High Court notified of Mahmud's successful appeal.' – BlogTakes, August 20, 2015)

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1. HIGH COURT NOTIFIED OF MAHMUD'S SUCCESSFUL APPEAL
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3. RELATED: NO NEED FOR ALIMONY AS ABU BEKIR PAID FOR EX-WIFE'S HOUSE, CARS

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RELATED: EX-WIFE EXAGGERATED MY WEALTH, MAHMUD SAYS

Sarawak entrepreneur Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib today demolished suggestions made by his former wife that he is a multi-billionaire, telling a Shariah court here instead that 90 per cent of his stake in Cahya Mata Sarawak was pledged with banks as collateral for loans, while purported offshore bank accounts were false.

REPORTED BY BLOGTAKES

KUALA LUMPUR, (FMT) August 27, 2015–

“My personal liabilities in loans for my businesses are substantial,” he said.

Mahmud revealed this in the Shariah High Court here during re-examination by his counsel before Judge Muhamad Abdul Karim Wahab in a RM100 million ‘mutaah’ divorce claim brought by ex-wife Shahnaz Abdul Majid against him.

Shahnaz had previously claimed that Mahmud held 111 offshore bank accounts in Canada, the US, the Caribbean, France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Hong Kong and Switzerland, and owned substantial properties both locally and abroad.

Shahnaz’s allegations apparently led Sarawak Report, operated by British political activist Clare Rewcastle Brown, and the Bruno Manser Fund to repeat similar allegations globally against Mahmud and his father Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud, as well as other members of his family.

They also led to Swiss lawmakers demanding that its banks disclose full details of Mahmud’s accounts, while the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) began investigations on the local front.

“This court has not been shown any evidence or proof that these accounts exist,” Mahmud told the court earlier. “Neither have these offshore banks been called in to testify as to their existence.”

“They are not real,” he had earlier told the court, adding that the claim made by Shahnaz were “forgeries masquerading as hacks.”

Asked to clarify how they were obtained, Mahmud explained, “The forged documents were obtained by my former wife and her legal team at a time when the fraudsters involved were running away from the arms of the law.”

It had been widely reported that Cullen Johnson and Elaine White were extradited to the US from a Turks and Caicos prison on April 10, 2013 on charges of money laundering, tax evasion and several charges of fraud valued at over US$1 million. Johnson and White were caught and arrested by the FBI and have now been indicted and jailed.

Mahmud also pointed out to the court a Harakah Daily news report which Shahnaz had tendered in evidence earlier, which he said showed that Sarawak Report had carried the allegedly defamatory reports.

When asked what led to their separation and ultimately, their divorce, Mahmud testified that there had been no common understanding between them and that there were no attempts by his former wife to arrive at any compromise. As a result, the husband-and-wife relationship deteriorated.

They went on to live separately in different rooms and eventually in different residences for 12 years and 4 months before divorcing in 2011.

On claims that he had assets amounting to over RM1 billion, Mahmud told the court that the report by his former wife’s appointed audit firm Ferrier Hodgson MH was not credible. He claimed that auditor Andrew Heng who had prepared the report had not verified his shareholding either with him or with the corporate secretaries of the companies in question, and therefore was not in a position to determine his true wealth.

“The report had failed to take into consideration my liabilities and the loans taken by my companies and me when assessing my wealth,” Mahmud testified.

He also said that the audit firm had even made gross mistakes such as claiming barren bush land to be productive oil palm plantations with harvest potential.

In addition to the RM100 million conciliatory gift (mutaah) which was the subject matter of the present claim, Shahnaz had also filed several other claims seeking RM500 million in matrimonial assets.

She, however, lost a RM141 million claim for child maintenance, when the Appellate Court ruled unanimously in Mahmud’s favour on July 14 that Shahnaz could not make the claim on behalf of their only son Raden Murya Abdul Taib Mahmud who had achieved the age of majority and was competent to do so in his own capacity. Shahnaz had sought child maintenance in the form of a terrace house in London (RM60 million), two Aston Martins (RM5.5 million), and a private trust fund (RM40 million to be held by her).

The court was also told that both father and son have an excellent relationship, with Raden currently working for Mahmud in one of his companies.

Written submissions for the mutaah claim are to be submitted by October 30 and the verdict is scheduled for January 11, 2016.

Mahmud was represented by Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar and Saadiah Din, while Mohd Rafie Mohd Shafie and Akberdin bin Abdul Kader acted on behalf of Shahnaz.

('Ex-wife exaggerated my wealth, Mahmud says.' – BlogTakes, August 27, 2015)

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1. HIGH COURT NOTIFIED OF MAHMUD'S SUCCESSFUL APPEAL
2. RELATED: EX-WIFE EXAGGERATED MY WEALTH, MAHMUD SAYS
3.
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RELATED: NO NEED FOR ALIMONY AS ABU BEKIR PAID FOR EX-WIFE'S HOUSE, CARS

REPORTED BY BLOGTAKES

KUALA LUMPUR, (MALAYSIAKINI) November 17, 2015–

He said the purpose of mutaah (gift or alimony following a Muslim divorce) is to allow the ex-spouse to begin a new life.

“As in this case, he had been paying for her maintenance fees for 11 years despite not staying together and paid for the bungalow and cars.

“Hence, there is no need for further money to be paid to the plaintiff as she has begun a new life with the property and assets,” said the lawyer.

Shahnaz’s testimony said she was left with an old Mercedes-Benz and a Land Rover bought for their son which does not run anymore.

Zainul Rijal also questioned the veracity of the evaluation done by chartered accountant Andrew Heng. from the firm Ferrier Hodgson, as it came with many disclaimers as portrayed in the documents submitted as evidence.

“The evaluation done by Heng is not for this mutaah (alimony) claim but for another case (the joint matrimonial asset claim). The document is not signed by Heng and this creates doubt over the authenticity of the valuation.

“Furthermore we notice that Heng or his firm had not complied with Malaysian standards imposed on submitting valuation documents, such as submitting photos of the places of the valuation, maps of the property being evaluated, or certification from the local council.

“There is also testimony from the witness (Heng) that he did not go to the sites (the lands claimed to be owned by Bekir). These documents are vital to ensure that valuation done is according to the proper standards of practice and hence this has created doubts in the case,” he said.

Heng’s reports stated that hundreds of hectares are owned by Bekir including palm oil plantations, but the defendant testified that some of the land cannot be cultivated and are left idle while some are swamp land.

Zainul Rijal added the burden of proof lied with the plaintiff, Shahnaz, and with such evidence tendered, the court should consider that there is nothing before it.

He was making a submission on Shahnaz’s claim of RM100 million for mutaah (gift following divorce) or alimony.

Bekir and Shahnaz married in January 1992 and officially divorced on May 11, 2011. They had not stayed together since 1999.

No proof of foreign accounts

Furthermore, Zainul Rijal said although Shahnaz had claimed her former husband possessed more than 150 bank accounts overseas including in the Caribbean, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore, she had failed to provide evidence.

“She failed to show proof of the presence of these accounts as claimed and as such her testimony and claims on these accounts should be rejected.”

Zainul Rijal further cited an authority that Shahnaz had to prove that her claim of RM100 million was warranted but she had not done so following questions surrounding the evaluation report.

He cited the case involving Najib Abdul Razak, when he was youth and sports minister and his ex-wife Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar, who had sought RM5 million in mutaah during the early 1990s.

“Najib was willing to offer RM36,000 and in the end the court did not grant her claim of RM5 million,” he said.

According to the case, Tengku Puteri Zainah’s lawyer had sought for a discovery of documents as in the current Shahnaz vs Bekir case but this was not allowed by the Syariah Court then.

Bekir’s lawyer further cited Middle East authorities which said that mutaah can be paid at the price of 30 dirhams which is the sufficient amount according to Islamic jurisprudence.

Syariah Court judge Mohamad Abdul Karim Wahab fixed December 22 for Zainul Rijal to finish his submission and following this, the reply by Shahnaz’s lawyers.

Shahnaz’s lawyers had in their submission this morning said her claim of RM100 million for alimony was not absurd and excessive as they had shown evidence as to the worth of her former husband.

Mohamad Abdul Karim then fixed January 28 to deliver his decision on the long-standing dispute.

Besides her RM100 million claim for mutaah, Shahnaz – who holds an MBA – is also claiming another RM400 millionin joint matrimonial assets and another RM121 million for their only child’s for education and maintenance.