Najib’s 1MDB trial postponed to tomorrow

 

1MDB TRIAL | The Kuala Lumpur High Court today postponed to tomorrow the full hearing of the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption case against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

This was because both the main prosecutors and lead defence lawyers were still at the Federal Court in Putrajaya for a separate appeal hearing.

Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Najwa Bistamam and defence counsel Tania Scivetti confirmed this to 1MDB trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah this afternoon.

They also informed the High Court that Najib was also still at the Federal Court in relation to the appeal hearing there, which had been proceeding since earlier this morning.

Sequerah then vacated today’s 1MDB trial and set for the proceedings to resume tomorrow morning.

The hearing at the apex court today is over Najib’s separate appeal to recuse DPP Gopal Sri Ram from prosecuting the accused in the 1MDB audit report trial.

Sri Ram and defence lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah are among the lead legal representatives for the 1MDB trial.

In relation to the ongoing graft trial before Sequerah, Najib is facing four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from 1MDB.

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

On the 21 money laundering counts, Najib, who was also a former finance minister, was purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.

The prosecution contended that the wrongdoing at 1MDB was carried out by fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, and several others with Najib’s blessing.

However, the accused’s defence team claimed that Najib had no knowledge of the crimes perpetrated at 1MDB and that Low as well as other members of the fund’s management had masterminded the embezzlement.

Initially a subsidiary of 1MDB, SRC later became fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc). MOF Inc is also the full owner of 1MDB.

Najib also used to be adviser emeritus to SRC as well as chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers. - Mkini