EX-prime minister Najib Razak’s defence team argued the prosecution in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial could not amend three criminal charges against Najib, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

Najib’s defence team, led by Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, questioned why prosecutors only chose to amend the three out of 25 charges – one for abuse of power and two for money laundering – this week.

Shafee said the late bid was prejudicial to the accused.

Shafee told presiding judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah this was because the defence team’s legal strategy since 2018 was based on the unamended charges.

In the RM2.27 billion 1MDB corruption trial against Najib, prosecutors sought to reduce the amount in one of the four abuse of power charges from RM49,930,985.70 to RM44,570,920.70.

The prosecution also sought a reduction for two of 21 money laundering charges – RM652,600,000 to RM515,666,277.51 on one count and RM12,436,711.87 to RM11,411,646.34 on another count.

“Justice must not only come from the court; it must also come from prosecutors who framed the charges in the interest of justice, and thus must proffer the correct charges after thorough investigation.

“The application, due to the late application and representation made after five years (since Najib was charged in late 2018), is unfair. (It is unfair) for the prosecution to be allowed to amend and change the goal posts, which will oppress the accused.

“The prosecution can either maintain the current charges or withdraw them,” Shafee said.

Inaccurate charges

Shafee said the hurried process of hauling Najib to court led to the wrong amount being stated in three charges.

“Following the 14th general election on May 9, 2018, which led to the fall of the Najib-led administration, the accused was hurriedly hauled to court to face the charges on September 20 that same year,” he said.

Najib’s defence was set to continue oral submissions tomorrow against the prosecution’s amendment bid.

It was reported the prosecution sought the amendments due to recent testimonies of two witnesses – Bank Negara Malaysia money trail analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan and MACC money laundering investigating officer Foo Wei Min – that clarified certain aspects of the case.

Najib, who is also former finance minister, faces four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.27 billion from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund fully owned by the Minister of Finance Inc.

On the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP was alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between February 24, 2011, and December 19, 2014.

On the 21 counts of money laundering, the accused purportedly committed the offences at the same bank between March 22 and August 30, 2013.

The prosecution team comprised Kamal Baharin Omar and Ahmad Akram Gharib. – October 25, 2023.