Najib to face several charges

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is expected to face several charges for committing offences under two Acts, sources said.

Highly placed sources at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Com­mission (MACC) said Attorney General Tommy Thomas is expected to lead the prosecution team and Najib will be brought to court about 8.30am.

“We believe Najib will be charged under the Anti Money-Laundering Act and the Penal Code,” a source told The Star yesterday.

Other sources said Najib is expected to face four counts of committing criminal breach of trust and anti-money laundering charges involving a total of RM42mil and believed to be linked to the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.

The offences are those spelled out under Section 409 of the Penal Code and under the Anti Money-Laundering, Anti-Ter­rorism Finan­cing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).

On hand to assist Thomas in court today will be senior prosecutors from the AG’s Chambers Datuk Mohd Hanafiah Zakaria and Datuk Ishak Mohd Yusoff.

Hanafiah is the head of the Member of the Expert Council (Prosecution) unit in the Chambers.

Najib’s family members confirmed that the former prime minister would be represented by senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Earlier yesterday, Najib was arrested at his house in Jalan Lang­gak Duta in Kuala Lumpur at about 3pm and was whisked to the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya about an hour later.

Sources also revealed that the former prime minister looked crestfallen and tense when he was brought to the questioning room.

He was clad in a light-coloured shirt and blue suit.

Sources added that Najib was quiet most of the time.

“Investigators brought him inside for questioning as soon as he arrived at MACC,” a source said.

Lawyer Shafee was seen entering the MACC office at 8.30pm.

Earlier in the morning, pressmen were waiting outside the MACC headquarters for former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was being questioned by investigators.

As word spread of Najib’s arrest, the reporters rushed to the main entrance of the MACC building in the hope of catching Najib as he was brought in.

However, by then it was unclear whether Najib had already entered the building through a different entrance.

A spokesman from the MACC later confirmed that Najib was in the building.

Members of the media returned to the MACC lobby, where they had been stationed earlier, in time to catch Dr Ahmad Zahid.

The MACC had launched investigations on Najib following the 1MDB controversy.

The Commission is looking into allegations that some RM42mil had gone into Najib’s account from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

According to Bernama, a court source said Najib would be charged at the Criminal Sessions Court 2 located at Level 4 on the right wing of the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex.

The case, according to the news agency, would be mentioned before the most senior Sessions Court judge Datuk Zainal Abidin Kamarudin, and then transferred to the Criminal High Court 1 before Justice Azman Abdullah.

SRC International was a subsidiary of 1MDB, and was placed under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry in 2012.

MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull said on May 22 that the MACC probe in 2015 against Najib involved funds of RM2.6bil and RM42mil that were believed to have been transferred from SRC International to the former prime minister's personal bank accounts.