1MDB trial has been delayed for so long - judge

1MDB TRIAL | A judge has reminded the prosecution and defence that the Kuala Lumpur High Court has a commitment to wrap up the RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Collin Lawrence Sequerah today told parties that the trial, which began in 2019, has been stretched for a long time.

The trial judge said this when allowing the defence team’s application to adjourn the trial this afternoon due to Najib’s lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah being on medical leave (MC).

As former finance minister Najib looked on from the dock, his co-defence counsel Alaistair Brandah Norman informed the court that Shafee fell ill this morning and is on MC until Sunday.

“He is down with fever and a severe sore throat infection that prevented him from conducting cross-examination of witnesses to be called,” Alaistair said.

The lawyer also informed the court that Shafee has to attend two separate court cases on Tuesday and Wednesday when the 1MDB trial is also scheduled before Sequerah.

The Tuesday case is at the Kuala Lumpur High Court for former Repco Holdings Bhd executive chairperson Low Thiam Hock’s appeal against his conviction as well as the five-year jail sentence and RM5 million fine for market manipulation.

The Wednesday case is the hearing of Najib’s judicial review leave application for a court order to be allowed to attend Parliament despite serving a 12-year jail term.

Alaistair suggested the 1MDB trial on Tuesday be converted to a mention in the afternoon and for the Wednesday hearing to start later in the morning.

There will be no trial next Monday as it is a public holiday.

At this juncture, deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam said that while the prosecution has no objection to vacating the trial this afternoon, they disagree with the defence’s bid for Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

The prosecutor said that they have instructions to finish the remaining prosecution witnesses, namely AmBank’s head of capital market desk Yap Wai Keat, and the commercial bank’s former managing director Cheah Tek Kuang.

Mustaffa said that the defence and prosecutors still need to wrap up cross-examination and re-examination of Yap and Cheah, before the prosecution could call any new witness.

Sequerah then said: “Those witnesses were kept hanging and this trial has been delayed for so long”.

“We cannot be waiting for that court and this court. We also have a commitment to finish this trial,” the judge reminded all parties before him.

Sequerah adjourned the trial, which will resume on Tuesday.

25 charges

Najib is on trial for four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from 1MDB.

In relation to the four abuse of power charges, the 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 is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.

In the prosecution’s opening statement at the beginning of the trial on Aug 28, 2019, lead deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram contended that the crime was allegedly committed through four phases spanning from 2011 to 2014.

Prosecutors contended that the first nine money laundering charges relate to allegedly receiving RM2,081,476,926 which forms the subject matter of the amended third charge and that the monies purportedly fell into the accused’s account ending in 694 with AmIslamic Bank.

The prosecution claimed that between Aug 2, 2013, and Aug 23, 2013, the accused transferred a sum of RM2,034,350,000 to Tanore Singapore.

Prosecutors alleged that simultaneously, the accused used the balance of RM22,649,000 to pay four entities and one individual.

The prosecution contends that all these payments purportedly benefited the accused.

They also contended that Najib received US$20 million (RM60,629,839.43) of 1MDB’s funds from alleged Arab royal “Prince Faisal” via two tranches of US$10 million each - the first tranche was on Feb 24, 2011, and the second tranche on June 14, 2011.

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

The accused’s defence team, however, claimed that the former prime minister had no knowledge of the crime perpetrated at 1MDB and the embezzlement was solely masterminded by Low and other members of the fund’s management.

1MDB is fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).

Najib also used to be the chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers.

The BN advisory chairperson is serving a 12-year jail sentence after the Federal Court on Aug 23 dismissed his appeal against the SRC International conviction over seven criminal charges, the custodial term, and a RM210 million fine in lieu of an additional five years in jail.

Initially a subsidiary of 1MDB, SRC later became fully owned by MOF Inc. Najib also used to be adviser emeritus to SRC.

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