FORMER prime minister Najib Razak only showed interest in requesting a copy of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) audit report and no other report, the prosecution implied at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

When re-examining prosecution witness Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad, deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram asked whether Najib had asked for any copy of or sought any change in any audit report for any other subject.

Saadatul Nafisah – a former National Audit Department director who led a special audit team on 1MDB – said Najib did not request for any copy of any other audit.

She said the department had conducted several special audits, including one on klia2 over its cost overrun.

Sri Ram: You described this (1MDB) as a special audit. Is this the first time you (the department) have done this?

Saadatul Nafisah: No. We have done this a few times. There was one requested by the cabinet on the klia2 (project).

In 2015, the auditor-general was requested to audit klia2 for low-cost carriers in Sepang, Selangor, after the development had claims of cost overrun.

Saadatul Nafisah said the 1MDB and klia2 special audit reports are considered investigative in nature.

Sri Ram: Who was the prime minister when that audit (klia2) was carried out?

Saadatul Nafisah: Najib. (Najib was prime minister from 2009 to 2018)

Sri Ram: Did the second accused (Najib) call for a copy of the (klia2) report or ask for changes to the report?

Saadatul Nafisah: No.

Saadatul Nafisah testified as the seventh prosecution witness in the Pekan MP’s 1MDB audit-tampering trial before High Court judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan.

If a special audit report is requested by either the cabinet or Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the auditors are empowered to seek information from those being audited and other third parties, she said.

“In fact, (in a) special audit, we do not send a full report to the auditee.”

Previously, Najib’s former principal private secretary, Shukry Mohd Salleh, told the court that Najib had instructed him that the 1MDB audit report must be reviewed before tabled to PAC in March 2016.

The 11th prosecution witness said he later received the report on February 20, 2016, after he had conveyed Najib’s instructions to Saadatul Nafisah.

In the 1MDB audit-tampering trial, Najib, 68, is charged with using his position to order amendments to the 1MDB final audit report before it was presented to PAC to prevent any action being taken against him.

Former 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda, 46, is charged with abetting Najib in making the amendments to the report to protect the latter from being subjected to action.

Both are charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which provides for a jail term of up to 20 years and fine of not less than five times the amount of gratification, or RM10,000 – whichever is higher – upon conviction.

The trial will resume on November 29. – October 20, 2021.