1MDB TRIAL | Former treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah testified that one of the voices in four audio recordings linked to the 1MDB affair “sounds like Najib (Abdul Razak)”.
The 42nd prosecution witness in today’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial against the former prime minister testified this when the audio recordings were played during the open-court proceedings.
During examination-in-chief by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib before the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, Irwan gave his answer regarding one of the voices that emerged in all four audio recordings that were played out during proceedings.
“The voice sounds like Najib (above),” Irwan answered when asked by Akram. Two of the audio recordings allegedly showed conversations between Najib and a Middle-Eastern leader.
Irwan also identified one of the voices as Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, the former special officer to Najib. Amhari was also a prosecution witness during the 1MDB trial against Najib.
Earlier today, trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah allowed the prosecution’s application to admit the four audio recordings as evidence.
The four audio recordings were part of multiple recordings revealed by then MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya in January 2020. They purportedly involved Najib and other 1MDB-linked individuals.
The prosecution seeks to rely on the four audio recordings to challenge Najib’s reliance on the claim of an alleged Arab donation.
Meanwhile, during cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah today, Irwan said he is not sure whether the voice in the audio recordings was really Najib’s because the witness was not present at the alleged events being recorded.
Shafee: After hearing the recordings, would you be able to say these are deepfakes?
Irwan: I cannot say as I am not an expert.
Deepfakes are synthetic media that were digitally manipulated to replace one person’s likeness convincingly with that of another.
The 1MDB trial before Sequerah would resume on July 7.
Najib, who used to be finance minister and chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers, is facing four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.
In regard to 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 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 crime perpetrated at the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, and the embezzlement was solely masterminded by Low and other members of the fund’s management.
The BN advisory chairperson is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence after the Federal Court on Aug 23 last year dismissed his appeal against the RM42 million SRC International corruption case conviction.
Initially a subsidiary of 1MDB, SRC later became fully owned by MOF Inc. Najib also used to be adviser emeritus to SRC. - Mkini
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