AFTER testifying since December 3 at his criminal trial, Najib Razak will cede the witness stand to the second defence witness tomorrow.

The former prime minister’s legal team will call former AmBank relationship manager Krystle Yap to the stand tomorrow after Najib’s re-examination concludes, the court was informed today.

Yap’s witness statement is relatively short at 14 pages compared to Najib’s 243 pages.

Yap was mentioned by several earlier witnesses in the SRC International trial, including former AmBank manager Uma Devi and former relationship manager Joanna Yu.

Yap was part of a phone chat group that included Yu, fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, former SRC International chairman Ismee Ismail, former SRC International director Suboh Md Yassin and former 1Malaysia Development Bhd CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi.

Yu and her former employer, AMMB Holdings Bhd and AmBank Islamic Bhd, are the subject of a suit by Najib filed on December 9, last year.

By tomorrow, Najib will have spent a total of 16 hearing dates on the witness stand. He spent three days reading his witness statement and 11 days being cross-examined, and has two days of re-examination.

He faces seven criminal charges for receiving RM42 million in SRC International funds. The 66-year-old may be jailed up to 20 years, if convicted.

Najib’s lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is expected to conclude tomorrow’s re-examination.

Meanwhile, Najib testified today that it was not a “significant” event that former attorney-general Apandi Ali was appointed to Tabung Haji (TH) board in 2016.

He told the court that he was not the first attorney-general to be appointed, saying that Apandi’s predecessor, Abdul Gani Patail was once the chairman of an unspecified company.

Najib: It’s not significant. Just a member of the board.

Harvinderjit: Yes, the implication is that it’s a favour for a favour. But it’s not much of a reward.

Najib had previously denied offering Apandi a seat on the board in exchange for clearing the Pekan MP of criminal wrongdoing related to SRC International.

Apandi was appointed to the TH board on January 26, 2016; that same day, he held a press conference exonerating the former prime minister of fraud related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd and its former subsidiary SRC International.

Apandi was appointed attorney-general on July 27, 2015. The 69-year-old Umno politician resigned from that position as well as from the TH board a month after Pakatan Harapan swept to power on May 9, 2018.

The defence has said previously that it wanted Apandi, who currently runs a private practice, to authenticate a 2016 press statement exonerating Najib of wrongdoing in the wake of investigations by multiple enforcement agencies the year before. – February 3, 2020.