THE 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial, where Najib Razak faces 25 criminal charges linked to RM2.3 billion in public funds, is set to begin on Wednesday morning. 

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah set August 28 as the trial’s start date after conferring with lawyers from the SRC International trial, who told the court this afternoon that the prosecution is expected to wrap up their case by Tuesday. 

Ad hoc prosecutor V. Sithambaram told the court that the defence would need another 1.5 hours to complete its cross-examination of the final witness, while the prosecution’s re-examination will need a further two hours. 

Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the defence received a further two volumes of documents, on top of the 15 volumes received on Monday. 

“As Yang Ariff can appreciate, even those bundles we have serious problem of completing. I would still like to renew my application that ideally we should start on September 3,” he said.

1MDB special ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram informed the court that Rajsurian Pillai will serve as watching brief for the Malaysian Bar and Chethan Jethwani for Goldman Sachs. 

For the 1MDB trial, Najib faces 25 charges of money laundering and abuse of power, relating to RM2.28 billion in the state investment’s funds deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

In the ongoing SRC International case, MACC investigating officer Rosli Husain is the 57th and final prosecution witness. 

When Rosli finishes his testimony, the prosecution will conclude its case in the SRC International hearing. Lawyers will present their submissions about a month later. 

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali will then decide whether there is a prima facie case against Najib.

The former prime minister faces seven criminal charges in his SRC International trial. He is accused of receiving RM42 million in his personal accounts between December 2014 and February 2015. – August 23, 2019.