Former 1MDB CEO is not a reliable witness – Najib’s lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today was told that the Chief Executive Officer of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman was not a reliable witness because his testimony was inconsistent and filled with contradictions.

Lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin, who represented former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said the 10th prosecution witness deliberately took action to hide financial losses from KPMG Malaysia and played a key role in ensuring that the audit firm’s services were terminated.

“Yang Arif, Mohd Hazem even admitted that efforts were made to prevent KPMG from knowing the true financial situation of 1MDB. He admitted that senior management, including himself, had been involved in manipulating financial documents and kept important information secret to hide the huge losses suffered.

“Mohd Hazem also admitted that the decision to replace KPMG (with Deloitte) was strategic and aimed at bringing in auditors who would be more compliant with management’s instructions and less likely to reveal financial discrepancies,” he said.

He said this when arguing before Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah after the prosecution closed its case.

Wan Azwan Aiman also said the testimony of the 47th prosecution witness, namely Bank Negara analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan, cannot be accepted because he is not a fact witness or an expert.

“Adam Ariff has no direct knowledge and did not play any role in the investigation of this case, which justifies him being called as a witness,” he said.

Najib, 71, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds at AmIslamik Bank Berhad Branch, Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Ceylon, here between Feb 24, 2011 and Dec 19, 2014.

He also faces 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount of money and at the same bank between March 22 and August 30, 2013.

Najib was charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 and Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act.

The hearing continues tomorrow.

— BERNAMA

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