Kuala Lumpur: The High Court has ordered the prosecution in former prime minister Najib Razak’s RM27 million SRC International money laundering case to prepare and serve all witness statements on the defence by May 20.
Justice K Muniandy also fixed the case for further mention on May 27.
Earlier deputy public prosecutor Ashrof Adrin Kamarul requested a three-month period to prepare and serve the witness statements.
“In total, there are 20 to 25 witnesses.
“I’m in the midst of preparing the witness statements and I have informed the counsel for more time to prepare,” he said.
Ashrof said that not all the witnesses are available in the Klang Valley. Investigators are in the midst of locating the whereabouts of some of them, he added.
However, Muniandy ordered the prosecution to speed up its preparation.
Meanwhile, Ashrof also told the court that the Attorney-General has not made any decision on representations filed on Najib’s behalf seeking that the charges be dropped.
Lead defence counsel Shafee Abdullah previously said the representations had been filed in August last year.
The trial is set to run from Sept 17 to 19 and Sept 23 to 24.
On Feb 3, 2019, Najib claimed trial to three money laundering charges in which he is said to have accepted proceeds from illegal activities amounting to RM27 million through three AmPrivate banking accounts.
He is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Berhad at the AmBank Group building at Jalan Raja Chulan on July 8, 2014.
If found guilty, he faces a maximum fine of RM5 million or imprisonment of up to five years, or both, for the charges framed under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001.
On Aug 23 last year, the Federal Court upheld Najib’s conviction for misappropriating SRC funds of RM42 million. The apex court also upheld the sentence of 12 years imprisonment and a fine of RM210 million imposed on him.
