THE high court today has allowed Attorney-General Tommy Thomas to withdraw three money laundering charges against Najib Razak in the SRC International Bhd case, in a move aimed at ensuring that the former prime minister’s first trial next week can proceed smoothly.

Thomas said the withdrawal of the charges did not amount to an acquittal, and that he will be applying for the three charges to be brought to the sessions court instead.

“This will save time. I am taking these steps to prevent any challenge that may be taken at any stage that is bound to delay or nullify the trial and result in unnecessary public expense,” he said.

High court judge Nazlan Mohd Ghazali ordered that Najib be discharged of the three additional charges not amounting to an acquittal, adding that the prosecution had the utmost discretion to discontinue prosecution at any stage of the trial.

He also rejected a motion by Najib’s legal team, led by lawyer Shafee Abdullah, to postpone the trial scheduled on February 12 pending an appeal.

Judge Nazlan ruled that Najib’s seven charges of money laundering be moved from the sessions court to the high court, as allowed for under Section 417(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

“The seven charges (registered under a separate case) will be transferred from the sessions court to the high court to expedite the ends of justice in this case,” he said.

He said other charges against Najib had also been transferred to the high court.

Najib is facing a total of 10 charges linked to SRC International involving RM89 million. SRC International was formerly a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

He was hit with seven charges in July and August last year involving RM42 million, and last week, he was slapped with the additional three charges which have now been withdrawn from the high court.

The 10 charges are on top of 32 others linked to the scandal-ridden 1MDB, involving a sum of RM2.3 billion.

Last September, Najib was slapped with 25 charges related to the state investment fund. Four were over abuse of power, and 21 under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

A month later, Najib, together with former Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, were jointly charged with criminal breach of trust, involving RM6.6 billion in government funds.

Last December, the former prime minister was charged with abusing his power by instructing that amendments be made to 1MDB’s final audit report.

Last August, Thomas announced the appointment of retired Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram as lead prosecutor in the 1MDB and related cases against Najib.

Last month, Najib filed for leave to initiate a judicial review to challenge the appointment of Sri Ram as lead prosecutor in his corruption and money-laundering cases. The Kuala Lumpur High Court will hear Najib’s bid to remove Sri Ram tomorrow. – February 7, 2019.