Ex-1MDB CEO's entire witness statement allowed to be read despite defence’s hearsay claim
Justice Sequerah made his ruling today after two and a half hours of submissions from both parties.
Justice Sequerah made his ruling today after two and a half hours of submissions from both parties.
High Court judge Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali also found the former premier not to be remorseful over the charges he (Najib) is facing.
The DAP secretary-general claimed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was unprofessional for leaking the information that he will be facing new charges to the press before he was notified on the matter.
The two charges under Section 403 of the Penal Code are for dishonest misappropriation of property.
Lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah insisted today that the court should rule on the allegation that Mohd Hazem's witness statement was hearsay. He cited a case law which ruled that issues of hearsay must be dealt with by the judge when they arise and not at the end of the case.
1MDB's former CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, who has been a witness in the trial since last year, is coming to the tail end of his cross-examination today by Najib’s defence team, led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.
Zahid, 67, is facing 47 charges, with 12 of them involving criminal breach of trust, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering involving tens of millions of ringgit in funds belonging to Yayasan Akalbudi.
Deloitte’s lawyer Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar informed the court that both parties have decided not to commence oral submissions, and instead will rely on their written submissions, which have already been handed to the judge.
Abdul Azeez made the application through his lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik.
Shahrol had previously claimed, during his testimony in October last year, that he was removed from 1MDB as CEO after voicing concerns over the unreasonably rushed financial transactions of the company involving up to billions of ringgit.