One month to declassify doc, Najib-Irwan RM6.6b IPIC trial deferred

The prosecution needed one month to declassify a large trove of documents that must be served on Najib Abdul Razak and Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah’s defence teams in the RM6.6 billion criminal breach of trust (CBT) trial.

As a result, the Kuala Lumpur High Court vacated the first day of the initially scheduled trial of the case linked to alleged payments to the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) today and rescheduled it to July 22.

During open-court proceedings before judge Muhammad Jamil Hussin, deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi indicated they needed around one month to declassify the documents linked to the Official Secrets Act 1972.

The prosecutor said the team was notified by lawyers Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and K Kumaraendran that the defence had not been served the complete set of critical trial documents.

Shafee and Kumaraendran are acting for former prime minister Najib and former treasury secretary-general Irwan (above, right) respectively.

While allowing the deferment, Jamil reminded the prosecution and defence teams that the case has been pending since 2018, when Najib and Irwan first claimed trial to six counts of CBT involving RM6,636,065,000 of the Malaysian government's funds.

The charges

On Oct 25, 2018, before the Sessions Court, Najib and Irwan pleaded not guilty to the six CBT counts. The matter was later transferred to the High Court.

Najib and Irwan allegedly 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 carries a maximum jail term of 20 years, whipping, and a fine.

However, since the duo are above 50, they would be spared whipping if convicted.

On the first count, Najib, 70, and Irwan, 67, were jointly charged - in their capacity as finance minister and Treasury secretary-general respectively, entrusted with RM1.2 billion belonging to the government - with committing CBT of the funds.

For the second count, they were jointly charged - in the same capacity - with committing CBT of RM655 million belonging to the government.

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 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 with committing CBT of CN¥1,950,000,000 (worth RM1,261,065,000) and RM2 billion, respectively, that belonged to the government.

Shafee: 1MDB trial until 2026 if Najib ordered to enter defence

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

1MDB taskforce mulls suing several foreign banks

Najib's account received RM49m 1MDB funds in 2014 - witness