MACC IO potential last witness in 1MDB case: DPP

 

1MDB TRIAL | MACC’s investigating officer (IO), senior superintendent Nur Aida Arifin, is a potential last witness in the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption case against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib told this in the Kuala Lumpur High Court during the abuse of power and money laundering trial against former finance minister Najib.

The prosecutor informed trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that Nur Aida is the IO in the abuse of power case against the accused.

“She is our (potential) last witness,” Akram told Sequerah.

Earlier today, MACC’s money laundering IO Foo Wei Min was testifying over the bank documents showing the alleged flow of funds from 1MDB into Najib’s personal accounts.

The trial judge was querying the prosecution on how many witnesses were left for the prosecution to call.

Akram told Sequerah that prosecutors could not call Nur Aida yet as Najib’s legal team has yet to wrap up its cross-examination of several prosecution witnesses such as former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz and the central bank’s money trail analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan.

When Sequerah asked whether the prosecution could close the case after Nur Aida is called, deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar said that is the case until something else comes up.

However, the prosecutor did not elaborate on what he meant by that.

The trial before Sequerah would resume on Tuesday next week.

Najib is on trial over four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).

For the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.

On the 21 money laundering counts, the accused is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013. - Mkini