PUTRAJAYA (Dec 3): Datuk Seri Najib Razak's motion in the Court of Appeal to examine Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki and SRC International Sdn Bhd investigating officer Rosli Hussein has been tentatively fixed for next Tuesday (Dec 7), a day before the appellate court delivers its verdict on the former premier's appeal.
Checks by theedgemarkets.com of the Court of Appeal (criminal) cause list on Friday showed the hearing set for that day.
However, it was not known whether the hearing next Tuesday will take place as it was understood that the Attorney-General's Chambers may file an affidavit to reply to Najib's motion.
The former premier's solicitors from Messrs Shafee & Co filed a motion on Wednesday to examine Azam and Rosli to adduce further evidence for his SRC case in which he was convicted and sentenced to 12 years jail and fined RM210 million.
In his application, Najib cited new revelations following a statement issued by the MACC on Nov 19 regarding the return of a sum of US$15.4 million owned by former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz's husband Datuk Tawfik Ayman's company in Singapore said to be from fugitive Penang businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low.
The funds were recovered from Cutting Edge Industries Ltd (CEIL) owned by Tawfik and another, and were returned to the MACC from the island republic.
Najib in his affidavit in support of the application said this evidence was not available to him during his SRC trial, where the defence team called 18 other witnesses besides himself. The defence, however, did not call Zeti despite her being offered by the prosecution.
Shafee at a press conference on Thursday afternoon claimed he had personally seen several statutory declarations from Tawfiq and his two sons admitting to being the beneficial owners of CEIL’s bank account that received the monies and relinquishing all claims to the monies held in the account.
The bulk of the funds was said to have originated from the profit made by Jho Low as a result of 1Malaysia Development Bhd's (1MDB) Islamic Medium Term Notes (IMTNs) of RM5 billion that were flipped in 2009.
Asked how the monies from the IMTN flip in 2009 would be relevant to Najib’s case given that the timeline involved in the SRC trial started from 2011 onwards, Shafee contended that it is relevant as Jho Low made a substantial amount of profit to the detriment of 1MDB, which subsequently benefited Zeti’s family.
He said this is significant, showing that Jho Low has known Zeti and her family for longer than Najib. The lawyer further alleged that the former central bank governor and her family were “compromised”.
Najib was found guilty on July 28 last year by High Court Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali of abuse of power with regard to the approval for Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP) loans to SRC between 2011 and 2012.
He was also convicted of three counts each of criminal breach of trust and money laundering of RM42 million that entered into his AmBank accounts between Dec 26, 2014 and Feb 10, 2015.
The court, however, allowed a stay of his jail sentence and fine pending his appeal. His appeal was heard for 15 days in the Court of Appeal between April and May this year before the appellate court decided late last month to deliver its decision next Wednesday (Dec 8).