This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 14, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) audit tampering trial involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak and former 1MDB chief executive officer and president Arul Kanda Kandasamy will begin on Monday.

High Court Judge Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said yesterday that he was disinclined to grant an adjournment.

“The prosecution can call other witnesses besides Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi,” he said.

Lead prosecutor and former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram initially told the court there were some bad news with regard to the trial dates and also Shahrol was initially slated to be the first witness in the audit tampering case and his cross-examination in the 1MDB-Tanore trial has yet to be finished.

Najib’s lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah was on a two-day medical leave beginning yesterday, thus the cross-examination of Shahrol did not proceed.

However, Sri Ram, after hearing Justice Mohamed Zaini’s decision, said the prosecution will comply with the judge’s decision. Sri Ram instructed Deputy Public Prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib to arrange for other witnesses to be called.

“We will burn the midnight oil to prepare the witness statements,” Sri Ram said.

Defence lawyers Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed and Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee, who are representing Najib, told the court of their predicament of having to prepare Najib’s defence in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case from Dec 3, 2019 onwards.

Justice Mohamed Zaini said he understands the defence team’s problem and indicated the court will be fair and strict on this. The judge, however, said he wanted the trial to proceed as earlier planned.

Najib claimed trial to a charge that he abused his position as prime minister by ordering the alteration of the final audit report on 1MDB.

He is alleged to have committed the offence at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya between Feb 22 and 26, 2016.

Arul Kanda is charged with abetting Najib in the 1MDB audit report alteration.

The charge under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 carries a maximum 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.