Lawyer Shafee Abdullah arrested, faces money laundering charge

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 13 – Prominent lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has been arrested and is expected to face money laundering charges at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court today.

It is believed that the arrest was made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

This action follows the revelation last week that an officer from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had issued an affidavit claiming that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had personally paid Shafee RM9.5 million between September 2013 and February 2014.

The two payments were previously alleged to have been made around the same time that Shafee had been appointed by then AG Abdul Gani Patail to lead the prosecution in PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy II trial before the Court of Appeal.

The affidavit from Siti Rahayu Mohd Mumazaini, which was released by Anwar’s office on September 7, claimed that new information was made known to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government on June 26.

“The information establishes that the appellant’s (Anwar) allegation that Shafee received a payment of RM9.5 million from Najib was true and that Shafee’s denial of this allegation in paragraph 28 of Shafee’s affidavit was untruthful,” the special task officer had stated in her affidavit.

She claimed that Najib had issued two cheques on September 11, 2013 and February 14, 2014 for RM4.3 million and RM5.2 million respectively from his personal bank account.

Siti Rahayu’s affidavit also stated that the information was obtained pursuant to investigations into Shafee under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

Nothing to do with Anwar’s prosecution, says Shafee

Following the revelation on the affidavit, Shafee finally admitted he received the money but denied it had anything to do with his prosecution of the appeal against Anwar’s acquittal by the High Court on his sodomy charges.

He said it was instead for work he had previously done for Umno.