The criminal trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, involving the alleged misappropriation of funds from SRC International Sdn Bhd, enters its eighth day at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Najib is being tried on three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) under Section 409 of the Penal Code; three counts of money laundering under Section 4(1)(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFAPUAA) 2001; and one count of abuse of power under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009.
If convicted, the Pekan MP can be sentenced up to 20 years' jail, whipping and fine for the CBT charges; 20 years' jail and a fine not less than five times the amount involved or RM10,000, whichever is higher, for the abuse of power charge; and 15 years' jail and a fine up to RM15 million or five times the amount involved, whichever is higher, for the money laundering charges.
The trial, being presided over by judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, is expected to kick off at 9am today with testimonies from witnesses who could testify that several entities – political and non-political alike – received between thousands to millions of ringgit from AmBank accounts linked to Najib's SRC International case.
Today, the prosecution may call witnesses linked to these entities, such as Solar Shine Sdn Bhd, Zulqarnain & Co, prominent businessperson Lim Soon Peng, law firm Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak, and SRC International-linked company, Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd, among others.
Last Friday, fifth prosecution witness Badrul Hisham Mohamad, the former manager of AmBank's cheque clearance centre, testified that among the 17 AmIslamic cheques cleared in 2015 include RM1 million to Upko, RM1 million to Penang Umno’s communications unit, RM300,000 to Johor Bahru Umno, and RM50,000 to Padang Serai Umno chief Asmadi Abu Talib.
Badrul Hisham confirmed this after being presented with the cheques, which were among the documents and items seized in a Bank Negara raid on the Jalan Raja Chulan branch of AmBank on July 6, 2015.
Yesterday, the court heard testimony from four witnesses that touched on part of the money trail from the Ambank accounts.
The 14th witness, Centre for Strategic Engagement Sdn Bhd director Rita Sim Sai Hoon testified that she received a total of RM300,000 from Najib for the research outfit to carry out daily analysis of Chinese content in the Chinese vernacular dailies from December 2014 to January 2015.
The 15th witness, former Upko treasury-general Marcus Mojigoh told the court that the Sabah-based political party received RM1 million from Najib to conduct corporate social responsibility project, Projek Sayang.
The 16th witness, Layang-Layang assemblyperson Onn Hafiz Ghazi, a relative of Najib, testified that he was paid RM240,000 by the accused through company Vital Spire Sdn Bhd to operate the defunct Malaysian Digest news portal.
The 17th witness, Najib’s former political secretary Wong Nai Chee, testified that the accused had paid RM238,914 via cheque to Lim, to pay for the administration of Facebook page Ah Jib Gor and pay for “objective” content writers for Akademi Kewartawanan dan Informasi Taima.
Attorney-General Tommy Thomas is expected to lead the 13-person prosecution team, comprised of deputy public prosecutors Sulaiman Abdullah, V Sithambaram, Manoj Kurup, Ishak Mohd Yusoff, Donald Joseph Franklin, Suhaimi Ibrahim, Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi, Sulaiman Kho Kheng Fuei, Budiman Lutfi Mohamed, Mohd Ashraf Adrin Kamaril, Muhammad Izzat Fauzan, and Mohd Ashraf Adrin Kamaril.
Najib will be represented by a 13-person defence team led by veteran criminal lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Other members of the defence team are former solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, Harvinderjit Singh, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, Chong Loong Men, Devanandan S Subramaniam, Farhan Read, Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed, Rahmat Hazlan, Muhammad Farhan Shafee, Tiara Katrina Fuad, Nur Syahirah Hanapiah, and Zahria Eleena Redza.
[More to follow] -Mkini
[More to follow] -Mkini
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.