WITNESSES who had previously testified at the SRC International trial are also expected to give their testimony in the 1MDB trial, which kicks off at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.

The prosecution team have slated at least 60 witnesses, who will also include former officials from the Prime Minister’s Department.

Najib Razak’s defence team had just received last week 17 bundles of pre-trial evidentiary documents that included witness statements.

The presiding judge, Collin Lawrence Sequerah, had requested that the prosecution call its formal witnesses who do not have witness statements to read from.

The prosecution will be led by former federal court judge Gopal Sri Ram, who will deliver an opening statement at the start of today’s hearing.

Najib faces 25 charges, namely four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.3 billion.
 
Najib is accused of abusing his position as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of the 1MDB advisory board between February 24, 2011, and December 19, 2014. 

Najib was accussed of influencing decisions at 1MDB’s precursor, Terengganu Investment Authority, and 1MDB’s joint ventures with PetroSaudi International Limited and Aabar Investment PJS.  
  
The money-laundering charges stem from incidents between March 22, 2013, and August 30, 2013, and includes the much-publicised US$681 million (RM2.8 billion) transaction into Najib’s bank account.

The former prime minister last year described the money as “contingency funds” from Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah, which was allegedly channelled through one of the king’s companies, Tanore Finance Corp.  

The US Department of Justice believes that Tanore was owned by Eric Tan Kim Loong, an associate of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho. 

Najib, 66, faces up to 20 years’ jail for the abuse of power charges and a maximum fine for each of the 21 money-laundering charges.

The Malaysian Insight brings you today’s proceedings live:

1.37pm: Sri Ram tells the court the prosecution has no more witnesses for today. Judge Sequerah adjourns proceedings until 9.30am tomorrow.

1.35pm: Noorhaina is now being re-examined by Sri Ram. She says that she was paid RM24,000 as the digital press secretary. Witness is released from the stand.

1.34pm: She says every world leader, like Barack Obama and David Cameron, use digital media to gain advantage. 

1.32pm: She says she was part owner of Orb Solutions. Noorhaina was asked if she and Amhari had been charged with any crime. She says no, she has not been charged, but she had been to MACC twice to be interviewed, and one more time to record her statement.

1.31pm: Noorhaina says certain projects she ran in digital media for the then prime minister may have opened Najib up to the idea and possibilities of social media.

1.30pm: Shafee asks if Najib had learnt from her expertise in using social media with his newfound “BossKu” monicker.

1.27pm: Shafee suggests that nothing Noorhaina did was for Najib’s personal benefit. She agrees.

1.17pm: She says she had a misunderstanding with Amhari and left PMO in 2014.

1.14pm: Noorhaina says she was appointed as Najib’s digital press secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. This appointment was a secondment from Orb Solutions.

1.10pm: She says when she was brought in, the speed of information in online communication is about the same speed as misinformation.

1.09pm: Noorhaina says the BN government then viewed social media with suspicion and distrust. It believed to harness this potential, it had to be done on a personal capacity and not on a government capacity.

1.08pm: She says the BN government in 2008 won a reduced majority. There was a belief in the government that it was because the opposition had used the online sphere more effectively than the government.

1.07pm: Noorhaina says  as a general statement, digital communications couldn’t be ignored by the government because everyone in the country was dependent on digital media.

1.05pm: She says she was recruited as a private contractor because of personal connections.

Shafee asks if in 2008, had the digital sector not hit the government sector. She says the government sector was slower to embrace the digital sector.

1.03pm: Shafee asks Noorhaina she specialised in at Orb Solutions. She says she had to deliver content.

1.01pm: Court resumes. Shafee begins his cross-examination.

12.36pm: Shafee requests a 10-minute recess before beginning his cross-examination of the witness.

12.25pm: She says the sum was to pay for the cost of operations, such as staff salaries, rental and day-to-day running of the office.

Noorhaina says that the company usually received cheques as the form of payment.

She says she worked in the Prime Minister’s Office from August 2013 to October 2014, adding she was the main liaison in the PM’s Office for Orb Solutions as a digital agency.

She adds that she had dealt with Najib to get his approval for events the agency had planned as well as over sensitive and policy-related public statements.

Noorhaina cites the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 as an example in which she would first run by all statements to be run on social media by Najib first.

She says the official press office benefited from this service, which in turn benefited the former prime minister.

12.24pm: She is shown a cheque made out to Orb Solutions, but says she cannot recall who received the cheque.

She can, however,confirm that the cheque was banked in. She identifies the signature on the cheque as Najib’s.

The amount on the cheque is for RM2 million.

12.18pm: She says as Orb Solutions CEO, she ran day-to-day operations and planned communications strategies, which she would then communicate to Najib through the Prime Minister’s Office.

She adds she was came into contact with Najib through her job.

The witness says Amhari, as Orb Solutions’ co-director, was the liaison between the company and the Prime Minister’s Office.

12.11pm: Sri Ram begins questioning the next witness, Noorhaina Hirawani Mohd Noor, former chief executive officer of Orb Solutions Sdn Bhd.

She says she was acquainted with one Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin when she was recruited to run a team of contractors to perform digital communications for Najib as prime minister. She adds Amhari was introduced to her as Najib’s special officer.

She says she helped set up Orb Solutions, which functioned as a digital agency catering solely to Najib to manage his personal online communications and assets.

She says she also ran his website and handled his social media accounts.

She says the formation of the company was for Najib to have channels with which to engage with the public in a less formal manner.

She says in 2008, the government of the day was cautious of online communications and social media, and that she was not aware of any other government official doing this.

12pm: She says between 2011 and 2014, Najib received RM10,355.18, comprising his MP allowance and Dewan Rakyat leader allowance.

In 2015, when there had been a revision to salaries, Najib’s salary was also revised, she says.

From January 2015 to March 2018, the salary for MPs increased to RM16,000. This meant that Najib received a backdated salary of RM19,846.59, on top of his allowance as Dewan Rakyat leader, the witness confirms, adding these were the only allowances Najib received as a member of Parliament.

Farah is then released from the stand.

11.52am: The next witness, Farah Nurdiana Azhar, is called to the stand. Farah is the administrations officer for parliamentary affairs in Parliament.

She had also been a witness in the SRC International trial, and her job scope includes handling all payments and allowances to parliamentarians. 

She says parliamentarians get a monthly allowance of RM16,000, effective from 2015. Other allowances received monthly amount to RM25,700.

She says when an MP is also a member of the administration, they only get a nett allowance of RM16,000.

Farah says that if a member of the government becomes the prime minister, he or she will receive an allowance of RM1,846 as the leader of the Dewan Rakyat.

She also confirms that she has access to the salary slips of all parliamentarians.

1.50am: Court resumes with Sri Ram telling the judge that one of the witnesses cannot be present today as the person has caught the H1N1 flu.

11.17am: Shafee begins his cross-examination.

She says that this salary amount does not include other salaries he received as finance minister.

She says she is not aware of Najib having received any other allowances from any other ministry.

Shafee ends his line of questioning and Natasha is released from the stand.

The court takes a short recess.

11.14am: The court is told that Najib’s gross monthly salary was RM58,605.15.

She says in May 2018, he was given a special RM1 million one-off payment for as retiring prime minister, which is in accordance with the law. Natasha says that the payment was banked in to his official Affin Bank account.

This was also testified to in the recently concluded SRC International trial.

11.09am: Natasha continues her testimony by saying she had to surrender Najib’s January 2006 to May 2018 payslips.

She says she also had to surrender statements of his annual gross pay for each year.

She then verifies Najib’s payslips.

11.08am: She says the course of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigation, she surrendered Najib’s salary statement to the body.

11.05am: The next witness, Natasha Rahimah Haryati, 47, takes the stand. She is an accountant in the Prime Minister’s Department’s finance department.

She tells the court that she was responsible for the payment of staff salaries and had access to all their payslips. 

She says she was the head of the claims and retirement department.

11.02am: Positions held by Najib, as confirmed by the witness: 

1986 - Culture, youth and sports minister
1987 - Youth and sport minister
1990 - Defence minister
1995 - Education minister
1999 - Defence minister 
2004 - Deputy prime minister
2008 - Deputy prime minister and finance minister
2009 - Prime minister
2013 - Prime minister and finance minister

After a few short questions, Farizah is allowed to step down.

11am: Shafee begins his cross-examination of the witness.

10.54am: When asked to identify Najib as a point of procedure, Farizah points to the former prime minister, who is seated in the dock.

10.47am: The witness says, according to records, Najib became finance minister on April 10, 2009.

On May 6, 2013, Najib was re-elected prime minister, she says.

10.46am: The witness confirms that when Najib was first elected prime minister, he held other portfolios, such as defence and finance minister.

10.40am: They start by identifying Najib’s appointment letter as prime minister dated April 3, 2009.

10.32am: Deputy public prosecutor Akram Gharib calls the prosecution’s first witness, deputy chief secretary of the cabinet Dr Farizah Ahmad. 

She has worked at the cabinet department since 2011. Her job is to manage the appointments of the prime minister and deputy prime minister.

10.28am: Sri Ram says that the first nine charges relate to the transfer of more than RM2.34 billion to an AmBank account.

He says that documents asserting that Najib received donations from Saudi royal family members are a sham.

Sri Ram ends his opening statement by saying that in the course of the trial, witnesses will show a bias towards the accused.

10.11am: Sri Ram says that Najib, Jho Low and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal Turki were so close that they even holidayed together in France.

10.04am: Sri Ram begins reading his opening statement.

He says the accused constructed an elaborate charade to enrich himself and that an important character in the charade is Jho Low. 

He says the prosecution will prove that his words and conduct show that Jho Low was his alter ego, adding that if you were to place Najib before a mirror, you would see Jho Low and vice versa.

Sri Ram says the prosecution will prove that the accused, in his capacity as then finance and prime minister, took several steps to funnel funds into his accounts and cover his trail.

10am: Shafee informs Sequerah about the defence’s appeals made at the Court of Appeal, saying it has allowed them to go back to the high court to hear judicial reviews over two matters. 

Shafee says that if the courts’ decisions are found to be in favour of Najib, Sri Ram’s appointment will be considered a nullity, effectively nullifying the entire 1MDB trial.

Shafee tells the judge that should this be the case, it may result in a retrial or Najib being acquitted.

Sri Ram suggests they go on with the case and deal with the matter when the time comes.

9.55am: Judge Sequerah enters the chambers.

Sri Ram addresses him. He has also prepared his opening statement and will read it out to the court.

He tells the judge that he will hand over a copy of his letter of appointment as prosecutor in the case.

9.52am: All lawyers are present and waiting for proceedings to begin.

9.34am: Najib enters the court flanked by his aides. None of his family members are with him.

9.30am: Lawyers for the prosecution are: 

1. Gopal Sri Ram 

2.  Akram Gharib 

3. Mustaffa P. Kunyalam 

4. Deepa Nair Thevaharan 

5. Nadia Mohd Izhar 

6. Najwa Bistamam

7. Hazmida Harris  Lee

8. Tan Song Yan

9.21am: The courtroom is packed with members of the media and others in the public gallery. However, Najib is still nowhere to be seen.

Lawyers for the defence are: 

1. Muhammad Shafee Abdullah 

2. Tania Scivetti

3. Al Firdaus Shahrul 

4. Syazwani Zawawi

5. Nor Fazreen Hazrina Rahim 

6. Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed

7. Rahmat Hazlan 

8. Farhan Shafee 

9. Mardhiyah Sirajkumar

10. T. Chelvakumar 

11. Syahirah Hanapiah

12. Zahira Eleena Redza

9.19am: Sri Ram arrives at the court.

9am: With the highly anticipated trial set to begin in half an hour, a crowd of people, mostly media personnel, await Najib’s arrival at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex lobby.

Today, two witnesses are understood to be former officers with the Prime Minister’s Department and another from Parliament. – August 28, 2019.