AG seeks Najib-Irwan IPIC trial postponement

The Attorney-General (AG) is seeking adjournment of the scheduled trial of Najib Abdul Razak and Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah over “new developments”.

Deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi informed this to the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, which was set to hear today the full trial of the former prime minister-cum-finance minister as well as former treasury secretary-general.

The prosecutor told trial judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin that the AG is considering a letter of representation recently sent by the second accused Irwan which cited new developments.

Lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who represented the first accused Najib, said they have no objection to the prosecution’s application to postpone the trial scheduled for today until Thursday this week in relation to the RM6.6 billion 1MDB criminal breach of trust (CBT) case linked to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).

Irwan’s counsel K Kumaraendran also said they have no objections.

Jamil then vacated trial today as well as other trial dates for this week and May, and set May 29 for mention for prosecutors to update on whether the charges against both Najib and Irwan would be withdrawn.

On Feb 27, the Finance Ministry - now helmed under present Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim - announced that Abu Dhabi's IPIC and its unit Aabar Investments PJS have agreed to pay US$1.8 billion (RM8.06 billion) to settle a legal dispute involving Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

During open-court proceedings this morning, Hashim said the prosecution seeks an adjournment to consider Irwan’s letter of representation.

In a letter of representation, the accused party proposes a way to resolve a legal matter, such as via the withdrawal of charges, or for a lesser charge to be put forward.

Hashim said the AG had received Irwan’s letter of representation and sought the postponement of the trial so that prosecutors can peruse it and decide whether to allow it or not.

‘Discussion involving a settlement’

“It (Irwan’s letter of representation) has been referred to the AG and his directions (to the prosecution team to apply before the trial court) is for the matter to be postponed pending any decision to be made.

“In the letter of representation, many new developments were cited by the defence team, before the AG could reach a decision,” Hashim said.

The DPP added that the prosecutors had also received a letter from Najib’s defence team asking for the vacating of the trial.

At this juncture, Shafee then stood up and confirmed Najib’s legal team had on March 20 written to the court to seek the adjournment of the trial.

“We found concrete (information) that there is discussion being made involving settlement (US$1.8 billion) between IPIC and the Malaysian government, which involved the same funds stated in the present charges (against Najib).

“So without giving further information as the matter is quite sensitive, we seek for the case to be postponed so that discussion (between IPIC and Malaysia) can proceed smoothly,” Shafee said.

The lawyer said Najib’s legal team will write a new letter of representation to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) over the new development, adding that an earlier letter issued more than two years ago was rejected by the AG.

Shafee added that they also seek adjournment of the IPIC trial due to the separate, ongoing RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial against Najib which involved similar issues.

The lawyer added that the 1MDB trial - which is currently being heard before trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur - had been proceeding for quite a long time and that the prosecution is expected to wrap up the case by June this year.

The IPIC case

The present 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.

On Oct 25, 2018, before the Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur, 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 in Kuala Lumpur.

On the first count, Najib and Irwan were jointly charged - in their capacity as finance minister and Treasury secretary-general 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 as 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 Malaysian 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 were 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.

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 due to the charges not involving sexual offences, the duo would be spared the rotan
(cane) stroke if convicted.

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