THE return of monies stolen from state wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd would likely take years, with legal proceedings to start only after criminal trials are completed, said a government prosecutor.

Deputy public prosecutor Thangavelu A. Suppiah, who is working with investigators on the 1MDB case, told a law conference that he did not expect the case to take nine years, in response to a question from the floor. 

“In criminal matters, you still have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. How is the judge going to appreciate the assembly of facts, which is incomplete?”

“As far as the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) is concerned, they are doing their level best. They want to get the cases investigated quickly and so that some form of result is shown, either with prosecution or with other recoveries,” he said at the International Malaysia Law Conference today.

“I think we’ve started with the superyacht through civil recovery. But for criminal matters, until and unless we can get all the witnesses – which is now seemingly very difficult to do so – and the exhibits and the hard evidence, I think it’s going to take some time.”

“For criminal prosecutions, we will need to wait until we have a good picture. Otherwise, there’s no use going to court with a puzzle that is not solved. We cannot take a case that’s incomplete. Is it a 85%, or a 75% strong case? It’s difficult to measure.”

Former prime minister Najib Razak was slapped with graft charges on July 4 in relation to 1MDB subsidiary SRC International.

Najib was then slapped with additional money laundering charges later. Prosecutors have accused Najib of transferring RM42 million into his personal accounts.

The former prime minister has claimed trial to all charges at the Kuala Lumpur High Court and his trial will begin in February.

Attorney-General Tommy Thomas has said more charges are coming for crimes related to 1MDB, in which US prosecutors said at least US$4.5 billion have been misappropriated.

Thomas said on Tuesday that he has yet to receive the police investigation papers on 1MDB.

Thangavelu believed there was “dexterity” on the part of the government in pursuing legal avenues to recover funds abroad.  

“We have to put in a proper application with facts and hard evidence for them (foreign governments) to consider. It will definitely take time.” – August 17, 2018.