NAJIB FILES APPLICATION TO STAY SRC TRIAL
Ex-PM’s lawyer says request was filed at Court of Appeal yesterday with certificate of urgency
FORMER prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, 66, has filed an application to stay his trial relating to charges over SRC International Sdn Bhd funds, which is scheduled to commence on Tuesday.
His lawyer, Harvinderjit Singh, said the stay application was filed at the Court of Appeal registry yesterday together with a certificate of urgency.
Najib sought to stay the trial relating to his seven corruption charges over funds amounting to RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd pending the outcome of the appellate court’s decision of his appeal relating to the withdrawal of a certificate of transfer by the public prosecutor.
High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali yesterday allowed an application by Attorney-General Tommy Thomas to withdraw the certificate to transfer the seven charges against Najib from the Sessions Court to the High Court.
Najib subsequently filed the appeal to the Court of Appeal on Thursday in a bid to set aside the High Court ruling allowing the public prosecutor to withdraw the certificate of transfer.
Earlier in Kuala Lumpur, Najib was charged again at the Sessions Court here with three counts of money laundering involving RM47 million five years ago.
Najib, who was wearing a blue suit, pleaded not guilty to the charges before judge Azman Ahmad yesterday.
On Thursday, Najib was given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) by the High Court.
This was following the High Court’s decision to allow an application by Thomas to drop the three charges framed against Najib on Jan 28.
For the three charges, Najib was accused of being involved in money laundering by receiving RM47 million in illegal proceeds in his three AMPrivate banking accounts. The offences were allegedly committed at AmIslamic Bank Bhd, AmBank Group Building, No 55, Jalan Raja Chulan, in Kuala Lumpur on July 8, 2014.
The charges framed under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001, carry a maximum fine of RM5 million or an imprisonment not exceeding five years or both, if convicted.
Deputy public prosecutor Manoj Kurup proposed a personal bond to be imposed on Najib.
“We also take into consideration that the accused is already facing many charges and has posted over RM6 million bail. We are agreeable to a personal bond,” he said.
Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah thanked the prosecution team for proposing the personal bond, saying that it was a fair proposal.
Shafee said he would raise an objection against the three charges as there were defects in all the charges.
“These charges were substantively the same charges the prosecution bulldozed over to the High Court (on Jan 28) and yesterday (Thursday), the A-G said he withdrew the charges as there was a fundamental error bringing the case to the High Court before going to the lower court,” he said.
The court imposed a personal bond on Najib without a surety and fixed March 8 for mention.