‘Charges against Najib not defective’

KUALA LUMPUR: Investigators had asked the Singapore government for several important documents before bringing charges against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the charges were therefore not defective, a witness told the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial.

Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, when cross-examing Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Senior Supt Nur Aida Arifin, 37, suggested that the charges were flawed because many of the documents received via the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) from Singapore were obtained only after Najib was charged.

The 49th prosecution witness said most documents via the MLA were obtained before Najib, 70, was hit with four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3bil in 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

“I only obtained documents from foreign authorities through MLA assistance later; however, there were no differences with the documents already in our possession,” she said, adding that the Deputy Public Prosecutor from the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) would handle different sets of MLA documents from many other countries. — Bernama