Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak last week has sent a letter of representation to the Attorney-General (AG) over the RM6.6 billion criminal breach of trust (CBT) case against him linked to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).
Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi informed the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning that the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) received the representation from Najib's legal team last week.
Under the law, a letter of representation is a method for an accused to seek prosecutors to review the criminal case against him, such as dropping the charges or for the accused to plead guilty to a lesser charge.
Previously, co-accused former treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah had also sent a representation to the AGC over the same case.
As a result, trial judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin set Sept 12 for further mention for prosecutors to update on the status of both accused's representation. Today was set for mention for the prosecution to update the court on the status of Irwan’s representation.
Back on April 3, Jamil vacated the scheduled trial that day against Irwan and former finance minister Najib, in order to allow the AGC to decide whether to allow Irwan’s representation.
The representations came on the heels of development in February this year, which saw Malaysia’s Finance Ministry announce that Abu Dhabi's IPIC and its unit Aabar Investments PJS had agreed to pay US$1.8 billion (RM8.06 billion) to settle a legal dispute involving 1MDB.
As Najib and Irwan looked on from the dock during today’s open-court proceedings, Saifuddin applied for another mention date, one-and-a-half months from today, as the AGC is perusing both accused’s representations, which involve a lot of documentation.
In response, Irwan’s counsel K Kumaraendran raised no objection to the postponement bid but sought an earlier mention date within a month from today.
Kumaraendran said this is because his client had submitted the representation three months ago.
Najib’s defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah also raised no objection to the prosecution’s deferment bid, adding that, if possible, the criminal court set an early mention date within a month from today.
Jamil then fixed Sept 12 for further mention of the case.
The criminal case against Najib and Irwan mainly revolved around 1MDB’s dealings with IPIC, particularly a 2017 settlement between the two parties in which the troubled Malaysian sovereign fund paid US$1.2 billion to the Abu Dhabi state-owned company.
This was after IPIC backed out from its 2015 deal to bail out 1MDB, which, at the time, struggled to pay a bank loan.
1MDB is fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc). Najib was the then finance minister while Irwan used to serve under him in the ministry.
Pleaded not guilty
On Oct 25, 2018, before the Sessions Court, Najib and Irwan pleaded not guilty to six counts of CBT of RM6,636,065,000 of funds belonging to the government.
Najib and Irwan were alleged to have committed all the offences at the Finance Ministry Complex in Putrajaya between Dec 21, 2016, and Dec 18, 2017.
They were charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code, which provides for a maximum jail term of 20 years, whipping, and a fine, if found guilty.
The case was later transferred to the High Court.
On the first count, Najib and Irwan were jointly charged - in their capacity as finance minister and Treasury secretary-general respectively who were entrusted with RM1.2 billion belonging to the Malaysian government - with committing CBT of the funds.
For the second count, Najib and Irwan were jointly charged - in the same capacity in their then positions - with committing CBT of RM655 million belonging to the Malaysian government which was entrusted to them.
On the third charge, they were jointly accused - in their capacity as public servants and holding the same positions - of committing CBT of RM220 million belonging to the government in Federal Consolidated Fund - under “Belanja Mengurus di bawah Maksud B11 Perkhidmatan Am Perbendaharaan, Aktiviti 021700 KL International Airport Berhad (KLIAB)” - that were entrusted to them.
The duo was also jointly charged - while in the same capacity - with CBT of RM1.3 billion, which was entrusted to them by the Federal Consolidated Fund under “Maksud B11 Perkhidmatan Am Perbendaharaan, Aktiviti 020500 Subsidi Dan Bantuan Tunai”, belonging to the Malaysian government.
On the fifth and sixth counts, they were jointly charged, while holding the same capacity - with committing CBT of Chinese yuan 1,950,000,000 (worth RM1,261,065,000) and RM2 billion, respectively, that belonged to the government.
Spared the rotan
Najib and Irwan allegedly committed all the offences at the Finance Ministry Complex in Putrajaya between December 21, 2016, and December 18, 2017.
The charges were framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code, which specifies a maximum jail sentence of 20 years, whipping, and a fine, if found guilty.
However, due to the current ages of Najib and Irwan exceeding 50-69 and 66 respectively - as well as the charges not involving sexual offences - the duo would be spared the rotan (cane) if convicted. - Mkini
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