KUALA LUMPUR – The high court has fixed March 3 to decide if former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) chief executive office Arul Kanda Kandasamy must enter their defence or be freed of charges involving tampering of a 1MDB audit report.
According to Bernama, judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan had vacated the original date on January 30 for the decision to the later date.
Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib confirmed the adjournment to March 3 to Bernama, adding that the high court deputy registrar Catherine Nicholas gave notice of the change in date in an email yesterday.
Zaini will deliver his decision at 9.30am on that date. He was yesterday elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Najib, 69, was charged with using his position to order amendments to 1MDB’s audit report before it was tabled to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee so as to avoid any action taken against him. He was also finance minister and oversaw 1MDB at the time when the alleged offence was committed in 2016.
Arul, 45, was charged with abetting him.
The prosecution had closed its case on September 7 after hearing from 16 witnesses who included former chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Ali Hamsa, former auditors-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang and Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad, former 1MDB chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh, dan former National Audit Department director Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad.
The charges under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 carry a 20-year jail term and a fine of five times the amount of gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
Najib is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption involving former 1MDB subsidiary, SRC International Bhd. – The Vibes, January 18, 2023
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