KUALA LUMPUR (July 21) : Arul Kanda Kandasamy's lawyers have put in a letter of representation for the prosecution to drop their appeal against the former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) president in the audit report tampering case.
Arul Kanda's lawyer Jasmine Cheong confirmed this with The Edge when contacted, following a case management for the matter at the appellate court on Friday (July 21).
Cheong said that the letter of representation was sent on July 20. She added that during case management on Friday, the prosecution indicated that they needed a month to consider the representation.
Cheong appeared for Arul Kanda, while Alaistair Brandah Norman appeared for Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the case management. Deputy public prosecutor Ng Siew Wee appeared for the prosecution.
When contacted, Alaistair confirmed the matter and added that they have not filed a letter of representation for Najib.
The next case management has been set for Aug 28.
In March, the High Court ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, and acquitted him of purported abuse of power charges in this trial.
Arul Kanda, who was charged with abetting Najib, was also discharged and acquitted.
The High Court had also ordered that Arul Kanda be granted a certificate of indemnity under Section 63(3) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act — the first case where a co-accused was offered a certificate of indemnity under this Section of the Act.
Najib, 69, was charged with abuse of power as a public officer in his capacity as then prime minister and finance minister, in altering the 1MDB audit report prepared by the National Audit Department, which was to be tabled to the Public Accounts Committee in March 2016.
This was allegedly so that no action could be taken against him by Parliament.
Among the items removed were fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low)’s presence at 1MDB board meetings, and portions of 1MDB’s 2014 financial statements.
The charge was framed under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009.
If convicted, Najib could have been liable to a maximum of 20 years’ jail, and a minimum fine of RM10,000 or five times the amount of such gratification, whichever is higher.