KUALA LUMPUR (July 4): The charges against Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in her RM7.1 million money-laundering and tax evasion case were groundless, the court heard on Thursday.

Defence counsel Amer Hamzah Arshad argued that the objective of any charge is to give notice to the accused, but the charges levelled against his client lacked adequate particulars. Out of 17 charges, there were also duplicates where she was accused of the same offence twice, he noted.

"The way [some of the charges are] framed, they don't show particulars recognised in law,” he said. “What [the prosecution is] trying to do is create as many possible charges as the same set of facts. That is not fair and unconstitutional on [Rosmah].”

Although the prosecution has the right to amend the charges, Amer continued, those changes can only apply to particulars that are not crucial. He said this is not applicable in Rosmah's case where he claimed the charges were fundamentally flawed.

Apart from Amer, Rosmah is represented by a group of lawyers consisting of Datuk Firoz Hussein Ahmad Jamaluddin, Reza Rahim and former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad.

The defence is in the process of submitting its application to strike out all 17 charges and for Rosmah, who is the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, to be acquitted.

The prosecution has yet to reply, and High Court judge Muniandy Kannyappan has set Aug 23 for continued submissions.

Still no update on letters of representation to drop charges

Rosmah's counsels have also sent three letters of representation seeking to drop all 17 charges against her. There has yet to be an update on these letters.

In its opening statement, the prosecution flagged that Rosmah had no independent source of income, yet had large sums of money deposited into her account.

In this trial, Rosmah faces 17 charges involving RM7.1 million transferred into her personal bank account between 2013 and 2017.

The charges were framed under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).

On the first eight counts, she is charged with money laundering by directly engaging in a transaction involving proceeds of unlawful activities amounting to RM1.1 million that were deposited into her account.

On the ninth to 12th counts, she is charged with directly engaging in 227 transactions involving proceeds of unlawful activities totalling RM6 million, which were also deposited into her account.

On the 13th to 17th counts, she is charged with engaging in money laundering by failing to file a return on the sum that was deposited into her account as required under the Income Tax Act 1967.