Najib Abdul Razak has failed in his application to obtain various 1MDB-linked documents, including banking statements linked to former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today.
The High Court this morning dismissed the former prime minister’s discovery application, which he was seeking to strengthen his defence in the ongoing 1MDB corruption trial.
When contacted, deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam confirmed that judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah dismissed Najib’s discovery application.
The former premier’s counsel Nur Syahirah Hanapiah also confirmed the court’s move.
Through the application, Najib’s legal team was seeking documents allegedly showing Zeti’s family received monies from 1MDB-linked fugitive Low Taek Jho or Jho Low. The team wanted the documents in order to bolster Najib's defence against the criminal charges.
Zeti has denied the allegation.
In the ongoing 1MDB trial before Sequerah, Najib faces four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from the sovereign wealth fund.
The accused was also previously a finance minister and chairperson of 1MDB's board of advisers. 1MDB is fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).
Zeti is on the list of witnesses that the prosecution intends to call to testify during the ongoing 1MDB trial.
Previously during the 1MDB trial, Najib’s defence team contended that former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and several others may have been in cahoots with Low in the whole affair, of which the former premier claimed he had no knowledge about.
Sequerah today also dismissed Najib's discovery bid for the United States court documents on the forensic report of former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner's handphones.
Previously before the US court, Leissner had pleaded guilty to a 1MDB-linked case, whereby in his admission he claimed to have bribed 1MDB officials, among other people.
The 1MDB corruption trial is set to resume on Aug 17. - Mkini
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