News by Hafiz Yatim

Datuk Hariharan Singh, the lawyer acting for Umno, also argued that the money claimed by the MACC has already been used up.

In his opening speech outlining the defence case today, Shafee said his team will also prove that the surrounding circumstances has led Najib to believe that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, was a close associate to the royal family of Saudi Arabia.

Najib said this on his first day of giving testimony in his SRC trial at the High Court.

His lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told a press conference that two of these unnamed individuals were from Saudi Arabia while the other two were from Abu Dhabi.

Azlan Shah Jaffril said he also had to pay a RM2 million bribe to former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to operate OSCs in Nepal and Pakistan to process work permits for people from those countries.

The money was allegedly paid in nine tranches through Isa’s former aide Muhammad Zahid Md Arip.

As a result, the MACC had today agreed to withdraw its forfeiture action against Bustari.

The suit will now be heard before a new High Court judge, Justice Datuk Rozana Ali Yusoff.

This follows a High Court's order for priorities and payment of the proceeds towards the specially set up fund, which will house funds channelled illegally out of 1MDB.

Nor Salwani Muhammad, an audit director at the National Audit Department (NAD), testified in the High Court that the matter was raised by Arul Kanda during the exit conference held on Dec 16, 2015.