We were happy, until she thought I was cheating, says Taib Mahmud’s son

Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir told the Shariah court today that he was happily married to Shahnaz Majid but the marriage took a turn for the worse when she started to question his movements a few later years.

Taking the stand in the court which is hearing the claim by Shahnaz for RM100 million in nafkhah mut'ah (conciliatory payment), Mahmud, who is the son of Sarawak governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud, said they had a happy married life since tying the knot on January 9, 1992, and were even happier after the birth of their son on December 11, 1993.

"She would always speak politely in the beginning but towards the end of 1994, she became rude and would speak harshly to me in front of my friends and staff at the office.

"She would check my phone calls and would ask our driver about my movements," he said when questioned by his lawyer Datuk Zainul Rijal.

Mahmud also spoke about how, after regular outings for "teh tarik" with his friends, Shahnaz would check his body for scratches.

"This is because she was suspicious that I was having an affair when I was not," he testified.

He also told the court that he had never hit his ex-wife, but had pushed her when she attempted to scratch his face.

Mahmud Abu Bekir also spoke about how his ex-wife had humiliated him at the lobby of the Kuching Hilton when he attended an event with his parents during their troubled marriage.

"She scolded me and questioned me about two women at the lobby, I didn't know them and I told her that.

"But she went up to them and started scolding them, I was embarrassed," he said.

The witness also spoke about how Shahnaz would scold him in front of his friends, even for "petty" issues such as the way he dressed.

"She also told my friends and their wives to monitor my movements," he added.

However, he told the court their relationship had improved for a while in 1996 when Shahnaz got pregnant a second time, but that she had miscarried three months into the pregnancy.

Mahmud Abu Bekir said that after the miscarriage, Shahnaz got angry and accused him of causing her stress which had resulted in her losing the baby.

"Her jealous streak continued and so I moved into another room hoping she would calm down and things would improve.

"But her attitude did not change and so I moved out of our home in Kuching into my father's property in KL in 1998," he said.

Zainul Rijal: Was it a permanent or temporary move?

Mahmud Abu Bekir: I just wanted some peace and so I did not even answer her calls. I did not want to be in contact with her for a while but I always phoned the house and spoke to the maids to find out if she and our son were doing all right.

He said that in 1999, Shahnaz moved to KL to her mother's home in Damansara, adding that soon after, he had bought her a RM2 million house in Damansara as well.

According to the witness, the house was registered under Shahnaz's name while he serviced the RM1.5 million loan.

He said that he also purchased three cars under their joint company for Shahnaz to use, namely an S-class Mercedes, a BMW X5 and a Jeep Cherokee.

The witness also said that Shahnaz had lied when she testified that he had assets worth billions.

Zainul Rijal: Why do you say she lied?

Mahmud Abu Bekir: Because it is a story created by a criminal from Canada, Cullen Johnson.

The witness further testified that Cullen, a former cop in Toronto, became an investigator after he left the police force and along with his wife Elaine White, offered "asset tracing services" to plaintiffs in divorce cases in Canada and the US.

"I sent an investigator to the US and found out that she had used the services of Cullen Johnson in 2012," the witness told the court.

He added, however, that Cullen was found to be engaged in document forgery and was currently in prison in the US on charges of forging bank documents.

Trial before judge Muhamad Abdul Karim Wahab continues on June 24.

Shahnaz, the sister of popular singer Datuk Sheila Majid, 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. – June 3, 2014.