The Analysis

Friday, January 10, 2014

I did not know he had married again, ex-wife of Taib Mahmud’s son tells court

January 09, 2014
Latest Update: January 10, 2014 08:30 am
 
'Mostly he would come into the house, watch TV, see his son and take an afternoon nap', says Shahnaz of her former husband, Mahmud Abu Bekir. - The Malaysian Insider pic, January 9, 2014. 
'Mostly he would come into the house, watch TV, see his son and take an afternoon nap', says Shahnaz of her former husband, Mahmud Abu Bekir. - The Malaysian Insider pic, January 9, 2014.
The former wife of the Sarawak chief minister's son, Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Abdul Taib, told the court today that she did not know that the woman he had brought to his sister's wedding in 1999 was his wife.

Shahnaz A. Majid also testified she had accompanied her son to meet Mahmud Abu Bekir and the Australian woman, Louise Aida Hiley,  two to three years ago.
"At the time of my sister-in-law's wedding, I did not know he was married to her," she said during cross-examination at the Syariah High Court today.

Shahnaz, the sister of popular singer Datuk Sheila Majid, also told the court that Mahmud Abu Bekir stopped giving her financial support after August 2011.

She said earlier today that he had initially given her RM7,000 a month since they started living separately in 2000, and the amount was increased to RM10,000 in 2007.

"But after August 2011, there was not even RM1 from him for me or my son until now," she said.
"He paid for our holiday in Damascus and Turkey but that was just once in the last 10 years," she added.

Shahnaz also revealed that since they started living separately, Mahmud Abu Bekir would make occasional visits to see their son, which was once every two weeks or once a month.

"Mostly he would come into the house, watch TV, see his son and take an afternoon nap," she said.
Shahnaz said that as the director of Sarawak Securities between 1993 and 2001, she was initially paid a salary of RM7,000 per month, adding that during the period of 1994/1995, when the securities market was doing well, they were given a year's bonus across the board.

According to Shahnaz after the securities firm obtained a license to trade in the stock market in 1997, her salary was increased to RM10,000 per month. But by then, bonus payout averaged two to three months.

Shahnaz is seeking some RM400 million as divorce settlement, including matrimonial property and “mutaah” (Islamic conciliatory payment).

She is also asking for half the assets owned by Mahmud Abu Bekir, including seven luxury cars, thousands of hectares of land in Sarawak, homes in countries abroad and shares in about 15 companies.

Shahnaz, and Mahmud Abu Bekir married in January 1992 and have a 20-year-old son, Raden Murya. Mahmud Abu Bekir filed for divorce in May 2011.

The divorce settlement proceedings had exposed the purported wealth of the family of the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Shahnaz, 50,  had previously testified that Mahmud Abu Bekir had a son with an Australian woman and later married a Russian woman.

She also told the court that the Sarawak Chief Minister's son has assets worth more than RM1 billion in Malaysia.

Under re-examination by her counsel Akbardin Abdul Kader, Shahnaz said her ex-husband did not ask for her permission when he wanted to take another wife.

She added that to her knowledge, he had also not made any application to the courts in Sarawak or in Peninsular Malaysia to have a polygamous relationship.

She also said that she never had sex with Mahmud Abu Bekir after they began living separately.
Shahnaz further told the court that the three cars in her possession were from the company that she and her ex-husband jointly owned.

"The Jeep can't be used since three years ago, my son drives the BMW X3 and I drive the Mercedes S320," she said, adding that the Mercedes was probably only worth RM50,000 now.

During cross-examination by Mahmud Abu Bekir's counsel Saadiah Din, Shahnaz was asked about whether she knew about the cars she had alleged that her ex-husband owned, including an Audi, Ferrari, Bentley, Lamborghini and an Alphard.

Dr Rafie Mohd Shafie appeared with Akbardin while Saadiah was assisted by Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar.

Hearing before Judge Muhamad Abdul Karim Wahab continues on January 22. – January 9, 2014.

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