KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 7): The 1Malaysia Development Bhd-Tanore (1MDB-Tanore) trial of Datuk Seri Najib Razak was vacated for the day, as both the prosecution and defence were tied up with another matter related to the former prime minister before the apex court.
Updating judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah on the matter, deputy public prosecutor Najwa Bistamam said the matter in the Federal Court was still ongoing, and that Najib was also present there.
"I have been informed that the case in the Federal Court is still ongoing. The accused is also there," she said, asking for the case in the High Court to continue on Thursday (Dec 8) instead.
The Federal Court matter, which both parties were tied up with, relates to Najib's appeal to challenge the appointment of Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram as the lead prosecutor in another trial the former PM is involved in, namely the 1MDB audit report tampering trial.
Initially, Wednesday was fixed for the defence's cross-examination of the 41st prosecution witness, former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu.
Yu had detailed to the court how fugitive financier Low Taek Jho or Jho Low approached AmBank in 2009 for an “unprecedented” RM10 billion bond issuance, with a 30-year tenure for the Terengganu Investment Authority, which soon after was transformed into 1MDB. She had also testified how Najib’s AmBank private accounts came to be set up about two years later.
Yu’s examination-in-chief has been completed, but the defence has yet to begin cross-examining her. On Tuesday, the defence indicated that it would need a week to complete the cross-examination.
The trial is set to continue on Thursday, and slated to go on next Monday to Thursday, before resuming in January 2023.
Najib is charged with four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion of the strategic development company’s monies.
The Edge is covering the trial live here.
Users of The Edge Markets app may tap here to access the live report.