This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 29, 2019 - September 4, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: After delays and a false start on Aug 19, the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore trial finally began yesterday.

In this case, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is accused of 21 charges of money laundering involving RM4.3 billion and a further four counts of abuse of power for personal gratification amounting to RM2.28 billion (see sidebar).

The court room at the High Court began filling up quickly from 8am — over an hour before the trial was scheduled to start at 9.30am — with journalists, the public and officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Observers, including Roger Chan, who represented the Malaysian Bar, and people from 1MDB’s investigative board were present.

The video link room, where a live feed of proceedings were broadcast, was likewise packed with almost 30 journalists jostling for space.

The prosecution comprises 12 deputy public prosecutors, led by former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram.

In the erstwhile premier’s corner are 12 defence counsels led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who also represented Najib in his SRC International Sdn Bhd trial, which the prosecution had concluded its case on Tuesday.

One of the lawyers is Tania Scivetti, who is married to Shafee.

When proceedings began —about half an hour after they were supposed to start — Muhammad Shafee raised the matter of a judicial review application filed by himself and Najib to recuse Sri Ram as lead prosecutor in his case, citing technical faults in his appointment.

The High Court could rule that Sri Ram should not head the prosecution and if this was upheld by the other courts, the decision could undo the prosecution’s case against Najib, causing his acquittal, he warned.

“The ball is in the prosecution’s court on whether to proceed with the case,” he added.

However, Sri Ram said the matter would be dealt with when the matter comes to that High Court.

“They (defence) say the ball is [in] our court but I say the ball is up in the air,” he said.

He then read his opening statement, where he called fugitive financier Jho Low Najib’s “mirror image” and “alter ego” in an “elaborate charade” to obtain gratification for himself with 1MDB’s funds.

“The prosecution will establish facts which will give rise to an irresistible inference that Jho Low and the accused acted as one at all material times,” he said.

He outlined the four phases of the charade (see Sri Ram’s opening statement on Pages 12&13).

Four witnesses testified in yesterday’s proceedings. They were Datuk Farizah Ahmad, the Cabinet’s deputy chief secretary; Natasha Rahimah Haryati Mohamad, an accountant in the Prime Minister’s Department; Farah Nurdiana Azhar, an administrative officer for MP affairs; and Noorhaina Hirawani Mohd Noor, Najib’s former press secretary (digital) and chief executive officer and director of ORB Solutions Sdn Bhd, a digital media agency set up to manage Najib’s personal online communications and assets.

The first three witnesses testified about Najib’s appointment as PM, minister of finance, and his remuneration in his capacities as PM, an MP, and head of the Dewan Rakyat, as well as the RM1 million “golden handshake” he received after relinquishing the premiership in May last year.

Noorhaina testified about how Najib had given ORB Solutions a RM2 million cheque for its day-to-day operations, and how she was given a job in the Prime Minister’s Department that paid her RM24,000 a month.

Notably, one of the directors of the firm is Najib’s former special officer Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin.

The 1MDB-Tanore trial resumes today.