KUALA LUMPUR: The defence in Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial has concluded 24 days of cross-examination of former company CEO Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman.
Lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohamed today wrapped up the cross-examination of Hazem, who had been on the witness stand since Sept 14, 2020.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam said the prosecution will call former company chief financial officer Azmi Tahir as its next witness tomorrow.
Earlier today, Hazem replied in the affirmative when asked by Wan Aizuddin whether he agreed that funds were misappropriated from 1MDB.
Wan Aizuddin: Would you agree that, based on the documents, most of the funds have been channelled to various entities that benefitted Jho Low (Low Taek Jho)?
Hazem: Yes.
Hazem took over as CEO in 2013, replacing Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi. He was previously the 1MDB chief operating officer.
He left 1MDB in 2015 and Arul Kanda Kandasamy replaced him as CEO.
Hazem also denied that he had “struck a deal” with the government to testify against Najib to evade criminal prosecution and civil action.
Co-counsel Mardhiyah Mohamed Sirajkumar described Hazem as a “liar”, when the defence pressed him on his alleged action in hiding details of a purported US$2.3 billion investment from auditors KPMG.
Hazem laughed off the lawyer’s suggestion and stood firm that his management team did its best to assist KPMG in the 1MDB audit.
“I am not lying. We gave all the documents we had, which was not enough for KPMG to do their audit,” he said.
Najib is standing trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing before High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow. - FMT
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