Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (August 20) - The prosecution in Datuk Seri Najib Razak SRC International Sdn Bhd trial is expected to complete its examination in chief of Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission investigating officer Senior Assistant Commissioner Rosli Hussain today, and the former premier's defence team will begin cross-examining him.

This comes as the trial enters its 54th day today, as Rosli is the last prosecution witness and the 57th called by them.

The prosecution is expected to close its case by the end of the week and the former premier will begin his 1Malaysia Development Bhd trial on Monday (August 26).

Yesterday Rosli testified that Najib had been interrogated three times by the graft body regarding the SRC case.

The IO said that documents regarding Najib's five accounts from when they were opened in 2011 and closed in 2015 at AmBank.

The documents also relatw to the mandate given to former SRC chief executing officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil to oversee his accounts and the 15 cheques signed and issued by him and it was his signature.

According to Rosli, Najib never denied these documents were never signed by him or that his signatures were forged when it was shown to him.

The former premier was first called by the MACC on Dec 5, 2015 after it had earlier recorded statements from Nik Faisal and Low Taek Jho overseas.

Subsequently following Barisan Nasional and Umno's loss in the 14th general election, Najib's statement was again
recorded on May 22, 2018 and May 24, 2018.

“We showed him all the documents and he confirmed that the signatures were his... he did not deny anything,” Rosli said during his examination in chief by DPP Datuk Suhaimi Ibrahim.

This resulted in Najib's lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah to raise an objection over that evidence and lawyer appointed prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram telling Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali that they would submit on the issue.

The relevance of this testimony is that the former premier defence was that Najib has no knowledge over anything about his accounts in issuing the cheques.

This was similarly when he filed a suit against former MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik in 2015 when he initially claimed he does not know the source of the contentious RM42 million.

But in an affidavit in support to strike out certain portions of Dr Ling's defence the former premier admitted in February 2016 that the source of the money was from SRC.

Against this backdrop The Edge is reporting today’s proceedings involving Najib, who is the highest ranking politician to be charged in court, live.

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