CBT case involving Najib, Irwan postponed because of new development

KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution in the criminal breach of trust (CBT) case facing Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah involving the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) requested that the hearing of the case today be postponed due to new developments.

Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi told High Court Judge Datuk Muhammad Jamil Hussin that this followed a letter of representation sent by Datuk K. Kumaraendran, representing Mohd Irwan, to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

"The representation has been referred to the Attorney General (Tan Sri Idrus Harun) and his instructions are for me to apply for a postponement of the case...Many new matters were raised in the representation by Tan Sri Mohd Irwan's lawyer and we need time to confirm it," he said.

Muhammad Saifuddin said the prosecution also received a copy of a letter from lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, representing Najib, also requesting a postponement of the case today.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Shafee told the court that he had sent a letter to the court to request for the trial of the case this month and in May to be postponed in view of discussions involving a settlement between the Malaysian government and IPIC.

However, he said, he could not reveal the details because of the matter is sensitive.

"Therefore, we request that the hearing be postponed to allow negotiations to proceed smoothly. If there is a development, this case may not need to continue," said the lawyer.

Today is the first day of the trial of the case involving the former prime minister and the former chief secretary of the treasury. The court had also set April 4, April 8 to 11 and in May to hear the case.

Muhammad Shafee also told the court that he had letter of representation to drop the charges against his client two years ago, but it was rejected by the AGC.

"We plan to send a letter of representation again to withdraw the charges if there are new developments (regarding the settlement)," he added.

Kumaraendran then informed the court that he had also sent a representation in February 2020, but did not receive any response and a new representation was sent last month.

Judge Muhammad Jamil allowed the trial to be postponed and fixed May 29 for mention for the prosecution to inform the court of the status of the representation of the two accused.

On Oct 24, 2018, Najib and Mohd Irwan pleaded not guilty to six charges of CBT amounting to RM6.6 billion in government funds involving payments to IPIC.

Najib and Mohd Irwan Serigar were jointly accused of committing all the offences at the Finance Ministry Complex, Putrajaya between Dec 21, 2016, and Dec 18, 2017.

The charges were framed under Section 409 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the same law, which provides for a maximum of 20 years in jail and whipping as well as a fine upon conviction.

-- BERNAMA