KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has failed in his bid to get a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) for the three counts of money laundering involving RM27 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.
Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah submitted the application to Kuala Lumpur High Court judge K. Muniandy on the account that it would not prejudice Najib and the prosecution.
“If the prosecution has any further update, then the case can be brought up to court (recharged) and we’d continue where we left off… the case has been going on for quite some time,” Shafee told the court today.
Despite dismissing Najib’s DNAA bid, the court questioned the prosecutors on why the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had not decided on the representation letter.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul informed the court that the AGC is carefully considering the matter, given that Najib is a high-profile person and the case is of public interest.
“This is also a high-profile case, which involves many documents to be considered, and there are also other Najib-related cases that have been postponed and awaiting trial.
“(Therefore) we are requesting for extension of time to consider this representation,” said Ashrof.
He added that all parties have agreed that these three charges involving RM27 million in funds will only begin after matters involving Najib’s application to review his conviction for misappropriating RM42 million of SRC International funds that concluded on March 31.
The court then fixed January 19, 2024 for the AGC to give an answer to Najib’s representation letter.
Najib was charged on February 3, 2019, with three counts of money laundering involving RM27 million of SRC’s funds.
On July 31, he filed a representation letter to the AGC to have his charges reviewed or dropped. The AGC reportedly said it received the 51-page letter on August 2.
Najib, 70, is now serving his 12-year jail sentence after he was convicted for misappropriating RM42 million of SRC funds. – December 1, 2023