KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak will apply to strike out the 25 corruption charges against him over the RM2.3 billion which allegedly originated from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
The former prime minister also will seek to disqualify the lead prosecutor, Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, from the case by the end of this month.
Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said this before Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah during the hearing of the cases at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Friday.
During the 30-minute proceeding, the court re-read Najib’s corruption charges after the cases were ordered to be transferred from Sessions Court to the High Court last week.
Najib pleaded not guilty and claimed trial to all charges.
Shafee, when met after the proceedings, said total conflict of interest was among reasons for them seeking to disqualify Gopal from leading the prosecution team.
“We are contemplating striking out the charges but we cannot disclose the reasons for now,” said Shafee.
The court had earlier fixed between April 15 to May 3 next year for the trial date.
Gopal, during the proceedings, said the prosecution would be summoning 52 witnesses, with the witness statements expected to be complete by early March next year.
On Sept 20, Najib, who is the Pekan member of parliament, was charged with 25 corruption charges at the Sessions Court involving RM2.3 billion allegedly from 1MDB.
Najib’s first four charges were under Section 23 (1) and 24 (1) of the MACC Act 2009 while the other 21 charges were under Section 4 (1) (a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA).
For the charges under the MACC Act, Najib, 64, was accused of using his then position as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of the 1MDB advisory board, to receive bribes on four occasions.
Meanwhile the money-laundering charges include nine counts of receiving illegal proceeds, five counts of using illegal proceeds and seven counts of transferring the proceeds to other entities.
All the offences allegedly occurred at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, here, between Feb 24, 2011 and Dec 19, 2014.
NST
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