Najib withdraw appeals for documents on Goldman Sachs and Zeti's family

PUTRAJAYA: Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is withdrawing his appeals for the discovery of banking documents relating to investment bank Goldman Sachs and former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz's family for his 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial.

His lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the Federal Court three-member bench today that Najib is withdrawing both appeals without prejudice for it to be re-argued at all levels of the court.

"We both (the defence and the prosecution) agreed to the following term. We will withdraw both substantive appeals without prejudice so that we can re-argue at all levels of the court including the High Court. The High Court did say we can re-argue on this when the witnesses come to testify in the trial," he said.

He also told the court that the prosecution would not object to Najib's right to re-apply for the documents when the relevant witnesses testify at the trial in the High Court.

Muhammad Shafee then asked the court to strike out the appeals on the basis of the two terms agreed upon by the defence and the prosecution.

Court of Appeal president Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, who chaired the bench, then struck out the appeals without hearing the merits of the appeals.

The other two judges presiding with Justice Abang Iskandar were Chief Judge of Malaya Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah and Federal Court Judge Datuk Zabariah Mohd Yusof.

Najib had filed the appeals against the High Court's decision on July 12, 2021, which dismissed two of his discovery applications to compel the prosecution in his IMDB trial to disclose banking documents linked to Zeti's family on claims that her family allegedly received monies from fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low. He also lost his appeal in the Court of Appeal which was dismissed on Dec 8 last year.

The former Pekan member of Parliament filed the application on March 24, 2021, to compel the prosecution to provide several banking statements from companies, including Aktis Capital Singapore Pte Ltd, Country Group Securities Public Company Ltd, ACME Time Ltd (BVI), Butamba Investments Ltd, and Central Holdings Ltd, believed to be related to Jho Low and Zeti's family in his 1MDB case.

Najib also filed a second application on April 7, 2021, seeking to obtain the confidential settlement agreement between the government and the Goldman Sachs Group entered in 2020 and transcripts or forensic reports on the phones of former Goldman Sachs partner in Asia, Tim Leissner.

Najib is on trial on four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount. The trial will continue on July 7 before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

The former prime minister is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence in Kajang Prison after the Federal Court upheld his conviction for misappropriation of RM42 million SRC International Sdn Bhd funds on Aug 23, last year.

-- BERNAMA