THE prosecution in the SRC International trial accused Najib Razak’s lawyers of going on a “fishing expedition” during its examination of former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Latheefa Koya.  

In court today, ad hoc deputy public prosecutor V. Sithambaram objected to the line of questioning by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Sithambaram said the defence lawyer was behaving as though it was cross-examining a prosecution witness.

“This is a fishing expedition by them to discover how the MACC obtained the tape recordings,” said Sithambaram. “They are going beyond the evidence and are in fact cross-examining their own witness.”

Defence lawyers questioned Latheefa on the nine audio recordings of high-profile individuals, including Najib. Latheefa maintained she does not know how the recordings were made. The recordings were of phone conversations between January 5 and July 29, 2016.

Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Nazlan ruled that Latheefa had the right to refuse to answer questions on the methods of interception regarding the audio recordings, after the prosecution said the recordings were not admissible as evidence in court.

The recordings were not produced in court despite Shafee previously saying the recordings were beneficial to his client’s case.  

Sithambaram told the court today the defence was aware that the recordings were not admissible and yet it was on a “fishing expedition” to discover the inner workings of MACC’s intelligence division.

He added that the questions appeared to be beneficial for cases other than the SRC International trial. Nazlan allowed the questioning to continue.

Shafee next questioned Latheefa on the RM4 billion of SRC International funds that were transferred to Swiss bank accounts, to which Latheefa said she did not have the details at hand.

Shafee: Surely you would want to know what on earth happened to that RM4 billion. The (then) A-G mentioned it in his opening statement. They (enforcement authorities) do know what happened.

Latheefa: It is not just the RM4 billion. We are interested in all the money related, whether it’s SRC or 1MDB, and we are interested in the asset recovery. We are interested, whether its in Switzerland or the US or anywhere else and we are in the process of recovering the money.

Shafee asked about the status of the investigation, to which Lateefa said she could not divulge ongoing MACC investigations as that would compromise the process.

Latheefa said she was made to understand that she was there to testify on the audio recordings and not other topics.

“I think it was very clear that I was asked to come on the witness stand to answer questions on the audio recordings. Am I being cross-examined with regards to the audio recording? That was what I was told and I was told this during the interview (with defence lawyers).

“If you are asking on a particular charge, I’m afraid I am unable to assist.” she said.

Shafee: Say so, if you don’t have the information.

Latheefa: I’m not the person in charge to give the information.

Shafee: Yang Ariff, I’m sorry, but I’m done with this witness. I have learnt her attitude. She is not answering my questions. She’s not cooperative. Although she is my witness, I have no further questions. We have the attorney-general making a bold statement about the RM4 billion at the start of the trial but she’s not answering my questions. I’m done.  

The court released a smiling Latheefa from the stand.

Najib faces seven criminal charges for receiving RM42 million in SRC International funds between December 2014 and February 2015. He maintains that he was under the impression that the sum came from Saudi royals.

Prosecutors have said the funds are linked to 1MDB, and that Najib conspired with others to defraud the entity, including its former subsidiary, SRC International.

Trial resumes tomorrow. – March 9, 2020.