KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has failed in his bid to get documents from companies linked to the family of Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz and fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho.
The high court here dismissed Najib’s application to obtain the items for his 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial.
“I do not see how the bank documents, related to the funds her (Zeti’s) family received, are relevant to the defence’s advance,” judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah was quoted as saying by Free Malaysia Today.
Najib also saw his application to obtain former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner’s mobile phone records turned down.
The court said the prosecution has also made it clear it does not have the documents in its possession.
Najib’s team had filed the application in March to compel the prosecution to produce bank statements and other documents to his defence team in his RM2.3 billion 1MDB case.
In a notice of motion filed by his team at the high court, Najib, among others, claimed that the documents are under the custody of the prosecution and/or other entities.
In an affirmed affidavit to support his application, the Pekan MP said the documents are relevant and vital to his 1MDB trial and was not made available to his team before the case began.
According to the affidavit, Najib claimed that some of the documents and statements are linked to companies believed to be related to Low and the family of the former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor.
“Zeti is listed as a witness in the 1MDB trial. As such, the bank documents are relevant to my defence and the cross-examination of Zeti and other prosecution witnesses pertaining to her credibility and independence as she was the BNM governor during the period in relation to my charges.”
Najib said the suppression of the bank documents is akin to misrepresenting the truth, and a breach of his fundamental liberties and right to a fair trial before the law as enshrined under Articles 5 and 8 in the federal constitution.
In the notice of motion, among the documents the former prime minister has sought from the prosecution are bank account statements for Aktis Capital Singapore Pte Ltd, Country Group Securities Public Company Ltd, Acme Time Ltd (BVI), Butamba Investments Ltd and Central Holdings Ltd.
He is also seeking the companies’ certificate of incumbency, declarations of the identities of the companies’ beneficial owners, registers of members, registers of directors, and correspondence between the banks and companies in respect of its transactions, including emails, telegraphic transfers, remittance forms, payment advice, transaction reports, payment orders, credit advice and bank memos.
The application compels the revelation of the documents from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and BNM, or any other entity having custody of the papers.
Najib, 67, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial is scheduled to resume next month. – The Vibes, July 12, 2021
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