Najib Abdul Razak will get another opportunity on May 10 to bolster his defence for his RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption case.
This morning, the Court of Appeal set the hearing date for the former prime minister's appeal to access the various 1MDB-linked documents, including the banking information of former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz's family.
Among these documents are ones allegedly showing Zeti's family receiving monies from 1MDB-linked businessperson Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, whom Malaysian authorities are still attempting to track down.
Najib's discovery bid was also for the United States court documents on the forensic report of former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner's handphone.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam confirmed that the Court of Appeal fixed the May 10 hearing date during case management this morning.
"The Court (of Appeal) fixed the hearing on May 10, 2022. Submissions already filed by parties," the prosecutor told the media today.
On July 12 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed Najib's discovery application to obtain the 1MDB-linked documents.
The judge who dismissed the previous application, Collin Lawrence Sequerah, is also presiding over the former prime minister's RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption case.
Through the application, Najib's legal team was seeking documents allegedly showing Zeti's family received monies from Jho Low.
Najib claimed ignorance
Recently, Malaysiakini reported Zeti's husband, Tawfiq Ayman, denied having ever received bribes.
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.
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 were in cahoots with Low in the whole affair, of which the former premier claimed he had no knowledge.
Leissner had pleaded guilty to a 1MDB-linked case at a US court, claiming to have bribed 1MDB officials, among other people.
He also recently testified at a New York court during the 1MDB-linked criminal trial against Roger Ng, another former Goldman Sachs banker who is a Malaysian citizen.
Najib's 1MDB corruption trial is ongoing before Sequerah today. - Mkini
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