Taib Mahmud's Son Swiped More Than RM750,000 On Credit Card In Spending Spree

LUXURIOUS LIVING: His ex-wife claimed that Mahmud Abu Bekir had swiped RM782,520.55 on a single card within a six-month period from January to June.LUXURIOUS LIVING: His ex-wife claimed that Mahmud Abu Bekir had swiped RM782,520.55 on a single card within a six-month period from January to June.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Abdul Taib, son of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, had swiped more than RM750,000 on a single credit card as part of his spending spree.

This was the claim made by Mahmud Abu Bekir's ex-wife, Shahnaz Abdul Majid, in her testimony against him at the KL Syariah Court today, in her bid to claim RM400 million in their divorce case, which has made headlines following eye-opening allegations on her ex-husband's finances.

 

 Shahnaz Abdul Majid

Shahnaz, who is the sister of jazz legend Sheila Majid, claimed that her ex-husband had swiped RM782,520.55 on a single card within a six-month period from January until June.

The Malaysian Insider reported that Shahnaz, 49, today produced documents detailing her ex-husband's expenses on his American Express Platinum card.

The Maybank-produced receipts showed that the card was used in locales such as Barcelona and London, with the stand out locations in the latter being high-end department store Harrod's and a Ferrari dealership.

She also told the court that her ex-husband had millions deposited in local bank accounts. These included deposits of RM5 million in a CIMB branch in Kuching, and an additional RM3 million in CIMB Private Banking, the website reported.

Shahnaz had previously told the court that Mahmud Abu Bekir has around RM700 million deposited in 111 banking accounts worldwide. These included US$25 million (RM76.3 million) in two accounts in the Edmond de Rothschild bank in Luxembourg; several HSBC accounts worth US$34 million and US$9.6 million in Jersey and Hong Kong, respectively.

It was claimed that the accounts have a total value of US$100 million. She had previously told the court that Mahmud Abu Bekir was worth more than RM1 billion.

Shahnaz,whose divorce was finalised in May last year, is demanding RM100 million as muta'ah (conciliatory payment) and RM300 million from joint matrimonial assets, as part of her RM400 million compensation demand.

The divorce proceedings have garnered public attention due to the sensational allegations. Shahnaz, when she filed for divorce, had demanded for Mahmud Abu Bekir's assets to be declared as joint property and halved.

She listed seven luxury cars, thousands of hectares in land in Sarawak as well as shares in 15 companies as among the assets.

She had also accused her ex-husband of violence, including punching her in the head, face and eyes; kicking her ribs, as well as verbal abuse which led to emotional and mental stress.

The couple were married on January 9, 1992 and have an 18-year-old son.

The proceedings resume on November 26.