1MDB TRIAL | The prosecution has applied to amend the amount in one abuse of power charge and two money laundering charges in the RM2.27 billion 1MDB corruption case against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.
However, Najib’s lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that the defence team would object to the prosecutors’ amendment bid.
During open-court proceedings before trial Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah this morning, deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar said the amendment seeks to reduce the amount in one of the four abuse of power charges from RM49,930,985.70 to RM44,570,920.70.
The prosecutor said in relation to two out of the 21 total money laundering charges, they propose for reduction in amount: RM652,600,000 to RM515,666,277.51 for one money laundering count, and RM12,436,711.87 to RM11,411,646.34 for the other money laundering charge.
Kamal submitted that prosecutors seek the amendment due to the recent testimonies of two prosecution witnesses, namely Bank Negara Malaysia money trail analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan and MACC money laundering investigating officer (IO) Foo Wei Min.
Meanwhile, Kamal noted that the amendment would not be prejudicial to Najib as it involved an amount reduction involved in the three criminal charges.
However, Shafee objected to the prosecution's amendment bid, pointing out that the line of defence and cross-examination of the prosecutors' witnesses were based on the unamended amount of the charges.
Shafee pointed out that the proposed amendment by the prosecutors could potentially change the defence's entire line of cross-examination on key prosecution witnesses such as Adam and Foo.
Shafee then sought for the defence to be allowed time to prepare their response to the prosecution's amendment bid and for the defence's oral submission.
Sequerah then allowed the bid for hearing of the charge amendment application to resume tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the trial this afternoon is set to witness a hearing of an application dealing with the admissibility of documents for criminal proceedings.
Najib, who is also a former finance minister, faces four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.27 billion from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).
For the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.
On the 21 money laundering counts, the accused is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22 and Aug 30, 2013. - Mkini
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