Najib Withdraws Appeal To Access Bank Info On Zeti S Family

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Najib Abdul Razak has withdrawn his appeal to obtain banking information on former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz’s family.
The former prime minister’s lead counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, informed this to the Federal Court, which was set to hear the appeal this morning.
The incarcerated former finance minister had sought the documents to bolster his defence against an ongoing corruption trial involving RM2.28 billion of funds from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Shafee told the Federal Court bench - chaired by Court of Appeal president Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and also comprising Chief Judge of Malaya Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah and Federal Court judge Zabariah Mohd Yusof - that the defence team is withdrawing the appeal.
Deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar indicated to the bench that they have no objection to the withdrawal. The apex court then struck out the appeal.
When met by the media after the open-court proceedings, Shafee explained that they sought the withdrawal as Zeti and the related investigating officer in the 1MDB criminal case would come to testify for the prosecution during Najib’s graft trial at the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.
Muhammad Shafee AbdullahThe lawyer said they would seek related documentation as and when Zeti and the other witness take the witness stand, with the criminal trial set to resume on July 7.
Najib's defence team wants the documents to bolster its contention on the possibility of Bank Negara oversight - over fund flows into his (Najib's) bank accounts - that may have been compromised by Zeti's family purportedly receiving payments from key 1MDB figure and fugitive Low Taek Jho or Jho Low.
Among the documents Najib sought were the ones allegedly showing Zeti’s family receiving money from Low, whom Malaysian authorities are still attempting to track down.
Najib’s discovery bid was also for US court documents over former Goldman Sachs managing director Tim Leissner’s disclosure that he bribed several officials from 1MDB.
Tim LeissnerLeissner had pleaded guilty to a 1MDB-linked case at a US court, claiming to have bribed 1MDB officials, among other people.
He also testified at a New York court during the 1MDB-linked criminal trial against another former Goldman Sachs banker, Malaysian Roger Ng.
Previously, Malaysiakini reported Zeti’s husband Tawfiq Ayman denying that he had received bribes.
The High Court dismissed the former Pekan MP’s discovery application for financial documentation on Zeti’s family on July 12, 2021, with the Court of Appeal upholding this verdict on Dec 8 last year.
In the ongoing 1MDB trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, Najib faces four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion from the sovereign wealth fund.
1MDB is fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated. - Mkini

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