Najib faces 3 more charges
Former prime minister faces up to 15 years in jail and fine if found guilty of the offences
KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was charged in the Sessions Court yesterday with three counts of having received RM42 million in proceeds from unlawful activities into two of his accounts four years ago, with the money belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.
Najib, 65, who looked calm, only said, “understood” after the three charges were read out to him one by one by a court interpreter before Judge Azura Alwi.
However, no plea was recorded from the former prime minister.
Najib, attired in a white shirt, blue lounge suit and wearing a tie, entered the dock at 9.10 am. He was not handcuffed.
On the three charges, Najib was alleged to have received RM27 million, RM5 million and RM10 million, respectively, which were proceeds from unlawful activities, via Real Time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities ( Rentas) into two AmI sl amic Bank Berhad accounts of his bearing the numbers 2112022011880 and 2112022011906.
He is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Berhad, AmBank Group Building, No. 55, Jalan Raja Chulan, here, between Dec 26, 2014, and Feb 10, 2015.
The prosecution was filed under Section 4 ( 1) ( b) of the Anti- Money Laundering, AntiTerrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) 2001 which provides for the penalty under Section 4(1) of the same act.
The section provides for, upon conviction, a maximum jai l term of 15 years and a fine of up to five times the sum or value of the proceeds of the unlawful activities or instrumentalities of the offences at the time that the offences were committed or RM5 million, whichever is the higher.
Earl ier, t he head of t he Appellate and Trial Division in t he At torney- Genera l’s Chambers, Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria, applied for the case to be transferred to the High Court.
Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who represented Najib, said it would be better if the prosecution applied for yesterday’s case to be combined with the three charges of CBT and one of abuse of power with regard to RM42 million funds belonging to SRC International faced by his client earlier.
Mohamad Hanafiah said the prosecution would make the application for the cases to be heard together but, for now, the application was for the transfer of this case to the High Court.
The court allowed the prosecution application for the case to be transferred to the High Court.
Besides Mohamad Hanafiah, the prosecution team comprised DPPs Manoj Kurup, Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim, Datuk Umar Saifuddin Jaafar, Datuk Ishak Mohd Yusof f, Donald Joseph Franklin, Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi, Budiman Lutfi Mohamed, Sulaiman Kho Kheng Fuei, Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul and Muhammad Izzat Fauzan.
Muhammad Shafee was assisted by counsel Harvinderjit Singh, Datuk Raj Krishnan, Farhan Read, Rahmat Hazlan and Muhammad Farhan Shafee.
Najib’s children, Nooryana Najwa and Mohd Norashman, also attended court.
On July 4, Najib pleaded not guilty in the High Court to three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and one charge of abuse of power involving RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.
KUALA LUMPUR: The trial date of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who was charged with three charges of having received RM42 million in proceeds from unlawful activities, three charges of criminal breach of trust ( CBT) and one count of abuse of power over funds totalling RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, will be fixed tomorrow.
High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali also set the same date to hear a formal application of gag order restraining any public discussion of the merit of the case before the trial began.
Mohd Nazlan also extended the interim gag order obtained by Najib during last proceeding on July 4 until tomorrow.
Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah informed the court that the defence and prosecution had submitted the submissions on the gag order to the court and both sides had exchanged the submissions yesterday and suggested to court to hear the matter tomorrow.
“But I am ready to hear submissions today ( yesterday),” said Justice Mohd Nazlan to which Muhammad Shafee replied tomorrow was appropriate time to hear as both parties could also reply to the submissions.
The judge also granted the application by Deputy Public Prosecutor Manoj Kurup for the three charges on money laundering to be jointly tried with the other four cases.
Mohd Nazlan extended the bail of RM1 million with two sureties on Najib in four others cases with three additional charges of money laundering upon a request from Manoj.
Manoj said the charge under the Malaysian Anti- Corruption Commission Act and CBT charges were predicate of three charges of AMLA and it was involving the same witnesses and documents and asked all cases to be jointly tried and the bail of RM1 million also to be extended in additional charges.
He also requested the court for a speedier trial and to fix the trial date in November this year.
Muhammad Shafee agreed with Manoj for the case to be consolidated and on bail to be extended saying that ‘ I must thank the prosecution to extend the bail’.
However, Muhammad Shafee said the court should have fixed the date for case management first as the defence has yet to receive documents from the prosecution including Najib’s caution statement under Section 51A of the MACC Act.
“We ( the defence) sent two letters to the prosecution to
We (the defence) sent two letters to the prosecution to request for the documents, but we get nothing. Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Najib's lawyer
request for the documents, but we get nothing,” said Muhammad Shafee.
Manoj replied that the trial should have been commenced within 90 days from the date of the case had been filed to which Muhammad Shafee countered that the 90 days was not a mandatory but was a directory and asked the court to fix the trial date after the defence received the documents from prosecution.
Earlier, Najib pleaded not guilty on four amended charges on CBT and abuse of power offences after the prosecution tendered the amended charges yesterday.
The prosecution had removed the word of ‘ penjawat awam’ ( public servant) in three CBT charges while the word of ‘ mengambil bahagian’ ( take part) in a charge of abuse of power had also been deleted.
On the first charge, Najib was accused of, as an agent, namely the Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Malaysia, Advisor Emeritus of SRC International Sdn Bhd ( SRC) and in those capacities entrusted with control of funds belonging to SRC International totalling RM4 billion, having committed CBT involving a sum of RM27 million.
He was accused of committing the offence at AmIslamic Bank Berhad, Ambank Group Building, No 55, Jalan Raja Chulan, here, between Dec 24 and Dec 29, 2014, and charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code which provides for a maximum jail term of up to 20 years and whipping and also a fine, if convicted.
On the second count, Najib was charged with, as an agent, which is the Prime Minister and Finance Minister with control over SRC funds totalling RM4 billion, having committed CBT involving RM5 million at the same place and during the same time frame.
On the third count, Najib was charged with, as an agent which is the Prime Minister and Finance Minister entrusted with SRC- owned funds of RM4 billion, having committed CBT involving RM10 million at the same place between Feb 10 and March 2, 2015, according to the same section of the Penal Code.
On the fourth count, Najib was charged with, being a public official, namely the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Malaysia, having used his position to commit bribery involving RM42 million when he was involved in a decision on behalf of the Malaysian government to provide government guarantees for loans from the Retirement Fund Incorporated to SRC International amounting to RM4 billion.
He is accused of committing the bribery at the Prime Minister’s Office, Precinct 1, Putrajaya, Federal Territory of Putrajaya, between Aug 17, 2011, and Feb 8, 2012.
The charge, framed under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24 of the same act, provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the amount or value of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if convicted.
On the three money laundering charges, Najib is alleged to have received RM27 million, RM5 million and RM10 million, respectively, which were proceeds from unlawful activities, via Real Time Electronic Transfer of Funds and Securities ( Rentas) into two AmIslamic Bank Berhad accounts of his bearing the numbers 2112022011880 and 2112022011906.
He is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Berhad, AmBank Group Building, No. 55, Jalan Raja Chulan, here, between Dec 26, 2014, and Feb 10, 2015.
The prosecution was filed under Section 4( 1)( b) of the Anti- Money Laundering, AntiTerrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLATFPUAA) 2001 which provides for the penalty under Section 4( 1) of the same act.
Earlier Muhammad Shafee had raised his client’s concerned about the transfer of Justice Datuk Mohd Sufian Abd Razak who had previously heard Najib’s case to civil court as the parties in the case had not made the application for him to recuse himself from hearing the case.
He said the defence did not question the ability of Mohd Nazlan to preside the case but rather the transfer of Mohd Sufian as it would raised questions on the administration of justice at the judiciary should remain independent.
“We have no issue for Yang Arif to hear this case, we are very glad but our client and us are concerned about the process of transfer of the judge in the midst of a created controversy, purportedly of bias,” he said.
Manoj replied that the transfer was an ordinary for judges.