Najib, Irwan's RM6.6b IPIC trial postponed to June 19

Today’s initially scheduled trial of the RM6.6 billion criminal breach of trust (CBT) case against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and former Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah has been vacated to June 19.

This morning, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed the postponement application because the two accused’s defence teams had yet to be provided with documents related to the 48 prosecution witnesses.

Judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin permitted the two-week adjournment, following no objections raised by deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi.

Lawyers Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and K Kumaraendran informed the trial court that the defence teams had not been provided with emails, letters, and memos of cabinet meetings that the prosecution witnesses would cite.

Najib and Irwan (above, right) were first charged in October 2018. However, their trial was yet to commence over the past nearly six years due to Najib’s various other ongoing criminal cases.

The six CBT charges against Najib and Irwan are over the alleged misuse of RM6.6 billion of government funds for payment to International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).

Shafee and Kumaraendran said Section 51A of the Criminal Procedure Code requires the prosecution to hand the defence team relevant trial documents 14 days before the commencement of the trial.

As Najib and Irwan looked on from the dock, their lawyers submitted that this provision is meant to ensure that the accused persons are able to prepare their defence against the criminal charges.

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 then finance minister while Irwan used to serve under him in the ministry.

Duo plead 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.

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 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” 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 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.

Due to Najib and Irwan exceeding the age of 50 - 70 and 66 respectively - as well as the charges not involving sexual offences, the duo would be spared the cane if convicted.

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