KUALA LUMPUR (July 31): On Monday the High Court saw mystery witness namely lawyer Ranjit Singh, who appeared for former Transport Minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik, testify as the 55th witness.
Ranjit was only approached by the prosecution three weeks ago and had not been interviewed by the prosecution, but his testimony may prove to be vital towards challenging the accused and former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak's credibility.
This follows Ranjit having told the court that the former premier had admitted in his own affidavit regarding his suit against Ling as early as February 2016 that he knew the RM42 million in his account was from SRC International Sdn Bhd.
Najib's defence had always been that he did not know where the RM42 million may have come from as he had received the purported US$681 million or US$700 million donation, and that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho and former SRC CEO and managing director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil may be responsible for the deposits.
However, the former premier's affidavit in Ling's case as quoted by the lawyer in citing Najib's own words proved otherwise.
As an affidavit is an affirmed sworn statement used in court and should the former premier claim otherwise like possibly now, then legal or criminal action can also be taken for duping the court.
Besides that, Monday saw Joanna Yu Ging Ping, who was formerly AmBank relationship liaison manager, continue with her cross-examination regarding Najib's accounts.
Yu is expected to continue to be cross-examined today and tomorrow by the defence, and so far the defence had been drawing a picture that pins the blame on Jho Low and Nik Faisal.
The witness had also revealed that food names were used to refer to the foreign currencies used in the transfer: American pies for US dollar, satay for ringgit and chips for British pound.
Najib is facing seven charges — three for criminal breach of trust, one for abuse of power and three for money laundering with regard to the RM42 million.
The Edge is bringing the trial involving Malaysia’s former highest-ranking politician who led the country for nine years live.