THE seventh accused in the murder of deputy public prosecutor Anthony Kevin Morais told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today that he was offered RM3.5 million by former prime minister Najib Razak to admit guilt.

S. Ravi Chandaran, 47, also told the court that the offer was made through a prisons’ officer and besides this, he also received an offer from Kevin Morais’ younger brother, Richard, to do the same.

Ravi Chandaran, who is the defence’s sixth witness, said this when cross-examined by counsel N. Sivananthan who is representing military pathologist Col Dr R. Kunaseegaran, during the proceedings on the 24th day of the defence’s case.

Sivananthan: You said Dr Kunaseegaran offered RM1.5 million for you to admit guilt. This was done on December 29, 2017.

Ravi Chandaran: True.

Sivananthan: You also lodged a police report that on January 26, 2018, Richard Morais offered RM2 million to you to plead guilty.

Ravi Chandaran: Yes, true.

Sivananthan: In the same report, you said in February 2018, there was a prisons’ officer who offered you RM3.5 million to plead guilty on behalf of Najib Tun Razak.

Ravi Chandaran: Yes, true.

Ravi Chandaran also agreed with Sivananthan’s suggestion that the total offered to him by the individuals concerned for him to plead guilty was RM7 million.

To a suggestion that that the accused just made up the story about the money, Ravi Chandaran said he disagreed.

He also disagreed with a suggestion that there was no reason for the individuals to offer him the money.

When asked by Sivananthan on whether Kunaseegaran ordered him to kill Kevin, the accused said: “no”.

To a question whether Kunaseegaran ordered him to do something on Kevin, such as to kidnap the victim, the accused also replied “no”.

In previous proceedings, Ravi Chandaran had told the court that Dr Kunaseegaran had offered him RM1.5 million to plead guilty to killing Kevin.

R. Dinishwaran, A.K. Thinesh Kumar, M. Vishwanath, S. Nimalan, Ravi Chandaran and Dr Kunaseegaran had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Kevin during their journey from Jalan Dutamas 1, Sentul, to No.1, Jalan USJ 1/6D, Subang Jaya, between 7am and 8pm on September 4, 2015.

They were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same code, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

Dinishwaran, 26, Thinesh Kumar, 25, Vishwanath, 28, Nimalan, 25, and Ravi Chandaran were represented by lawyer Rajehgopal while the prosecution was led by deputy public prosecutor Saiful Edris Zainuddin.

The hearing before judge Azman Abdullah resumes on Friday. – Bernama, October 2, 2018.