This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 10, 2020 - March 16, 2020

KUALA LUMPUR: Newly-appointed Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Idrus Harun has given former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram, also a senior deputy public prosecutor (DPP), the mandate to continue prosecuting four high-profile cases.

They include former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) trial, Najib and former 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy’s joint 1MDB audit tampering case, and Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor’s graft trial.

The fourth case, which had yet to start, is Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah’s money laundering case.

Sri Ram, when contacted, confirmed with theedgemarkets.com that he had received the new AG’s mandate, without elaborating.

There have been ongoing questions regarding the current prosecution in these cases following Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s appointment as the eighth prime minister. For those cases, Sri Ram was appointed the senior DPP.

Last Friday, Idrus was appointed the new AG, replacing Tan Sri Tommy Thomas who resigned late last month before his two-year contract, starting in July 2018, expired.

Thomas resigned following the fall of Pakatan Harapan government led by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. 

He tendered his resignation to Dr Mahathir, who had appointed him, replacing his predecessor Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.