NAJIB Razak’s defence team said it had no problem with the prosecution’s move to call its client’s stepson Riza Aziz to testify in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd trial. 

“It’s okay by us because if you call Riza Aziz, Riza will just tell the truth,” lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the press after today’s hearing at the the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

“Riza Aziz’s testimony will help my client’s case. He has given many statements… which do not show that he was guilty.

“His statement will (also) not show that Datuk Seri Najib is guilty,” Shafee said.

Najib faces 25 criminal charges in relation to RM2.28 billion of public funds in the 1MDB trial which resumed today after a six-month hiatus.

Lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram today informed High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that the prosecution will be applying to add Riza, who is Najib’s stepson, to its list of witnesses. 

The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court last Thursday granted Riza a discharge not amounting to an acquittal from five counts of money laundering involving US$248mil (RM1.25 billion) of  funds linked to 1MDB.

Riza was accused of laundering the money via Red Granite Pictures, a Hollywood production house he co-owned.

Following the court’s decision, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said the government expects to recover overseas assets worth an estimated US$107.3mil in a deal struck between the prosecution and Riza. – May 19, 2020.