Najib, son face bankruptcy after Malaysian court’s tax ruling

The Malaysian High Court has dismissed an appeal by former prime minister Najib Razak and his son, Mohd Nazifuddin Najib, to stay bankruptcy proceedings against them.

The bankruptcy proceedings were initiated by the Inland Revenue Board following Najib and Nazifuddin’s failure to settle tax arrears amounting to 1.69 billion ringgit (US$407 million) and 37.6 million ringgit, respectively.

Judicial Commissioner Suhendran Sockanathan alias Saheran Abdullah made the dismissal after finding that there was no reason to grant a stay.

“I don’t see any other damages that would warrant a stay,” he said on Monday.

In his dismissal, Suhendran stated that the merits of a tax assessment were to be determined by the Special Commissioners of Income Tax and not by a court of law.

“The court’s role is only to facilitate the collection and recovery of tax. The formula of ‘pay now, dispute later’ is, again, to facilitate the collection of tax,” he added.