The High Court has called on Datuk Seri Najib Razak to enter his defence on four charges of power abuse and 21 charges of money laundering involving RM2.28bil linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah said the court had conducted a maximum evaluation in the case and found that the prosecution had proven prima facie in its case against the former prime minister.

“This court accordingly calls upon the accused to make his defence on all 21 charges under the Anti-Money Laundering Act,” he said here on Wednesday (Oct 30).

Just moments earlier, the judge called Najib to enter his defence on four charges under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 relating to abuse of power.

Najib’s counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his client “has nothing to hide” and that he will give evidence from the stand.

After the court interpreter read to Najib his options, the former prime minister elected to give evidence under oath.

When reading his decision in the RM2.28bil 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial in proceedings on Wednesday (Oct 30), Justice Sequerah had said that the charges proffered against Datuk Seri Najib Razak are valid and correct in law.

He had added that it was the contention of the defence team that Najib’s charges were “defective, duplicitous, and ambiguous”.

“I find the charges fulfil all the legal criteria under the Criminal Procedure Code,” the judge said.

He also said that he did not find Najib to have been “misled” by the charges.

The defence had also contended that prosecution witnesses, such as ex-1MDB CFO Azmi Tahir, ex-1MDB chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh and former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu, were giving hearsay evidence as they claimed to have been in communication with persons who could not be found, such as fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (or Jho Low), Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil (still at large) and Datuk Azlin Alias (now deceased).

On this issue of hearsay evidence, Justice Sequerah said he found the communication between the witnesses and the persons not found were made during the ordinary course of business.

Upon examination of the evidence, he then said he found the oral communication to be admissible in court.

“I find the testimonies of these witnesses were consistent and any of the credibility of these witnesses remain intact,” he said.

According to the amended charges, the former Pekan MP is facing four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28bil gratification from 1MDB’s funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.

The charges were framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act.

If he is convicted at the end of the defence case, Najib is facing imprisonment up to 20 years and a fine of five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

On May 30, the prosecution closed its case after calling 50 witnesses to the stand to testify against the former prime minister.

Some of the high profile witnesses were former 1MDB chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh, former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

Another notable witness was former general counsel of 1MDB, Jasmine Loo, who went hiding abroad for about five years before surrendering herself to the authorities in July last year.

She became the 50th and last witness to testify.

The prosecution’s trial began on Aug 28, 2019, and lasted 235 days.

The late Deputy Public Prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram led the prosecution team until his demise in January last year.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib took on his mantle, with other DPPs Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam and Kamal Bahrin Omar on the team.

Meanwhile, lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and lawyers Wan Mohammad Arfan Wan Othman and Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin represented Najib.

-In Association with ANN