PUTRAJAYA: The Director-General (DG) for the witness protection unit from the Prime Minister’s Department is seeking to set aside a court subpoena to appear as a witness in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's defence trial regarding the misappropriation of funds from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Senior Federal Counsel (SFC) Nur Hidayah Raihan Md Nasir made an oral application at the High Court to dismiss the subpoena, stating that the DG, who was not named, is bound by secrecy laws related to the programme.
According to the SFC, the unit received the subpoena less than 24 hours ago, but the document did not specify why the DG was summoned to testify.
However, a call with Najib’s defence team indicated that the questions would concern former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng, who was convicted in the United States for offences linked to the 1MDB scandal.
Ng, a former Goldman Sachs banker, was sentenced to 10 years in jail after a jury in Brooklyn, New York, found him guilty of violating US anti-bribery laws, money laundering, and illegally skirting Goldman’s accounting controls.
"The application to set aside the subpoena is needed as the DG is bound by the Witness Protection Act 2009 to not disclose information on participants in the programme or its affairs.
"I believe that even if the DG is called to testify on Roger Ng or any other individuals, he cannot disclose any information as he is bound by the law," she told the court on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, expressed his shock at the prosecution’s bid to set aside the subpoena.
“Jasmine Loo (former 1MDB general counsel) was also in the same programme. I’m not sure why they suddenly want to protect the witness that we are interested in,” he said.
Presiding judge Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah then asked the prosecution to file written submissions by Friday (April 11) and for parties to submit on the matter next Tuesday.
On Oct 30 last year, Najib was ordered by the High Court to enter his defence on four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28bil gratification from 1MDB's funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
The hearing continues on Thursday (April 10).
