Shafee says latest CBT charges are foolish, 'we'll have fun'

KUALA LUMPUR: “We’ll have fun and the prosecution will have nightmares,” says a confident Tan Sri Dr Muhammad Shafee Abdullah on the latest charges levelled at his client Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.  

The former premier and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah were slapped with six charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT) on Thursday (Oct 25) amounting to more than RM6bil.   

“As far as these six charges are concerned, we are looking forward to going to trial.   

"The charges are foolish because it calls into question the executive decision-making process of the minister of finance and the secretary-general.   

“Basically all six charges say you’ve gotten allocation of funds for certain purposes, and you’ve made a decision to divert those funds to pay for other purposes,” he said.  

Shafie argued that his client made a decision to reallocate and re-prioritise the funds for more urgent matters.  

“That does not mean the previous allocation remains vacant. It’s just a question of priority, which one you pay first.  

“You can see the silliness of the charges. We are going to have fun,” he said when met outside the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex on Thursday (Oct 25).

Shafie explained that two of the charges pertained to infrastructure projects, whereas the other four were payments to IPIC (International Petroleum Investment Compant).

Commenting on a related matter, Shafie said he was disturbed that the decision to charge former spy chief Datuk Hasanah Ab Hamid was taken so easily.

"There are a lot of national security matters that would have to be unloaded during her case. I don’t know if this is a wise thing to do,” he said.