KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 12): About 80% of the 168-page witness statement of former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi has been objected to on the grounds of hearsay.
The objection was raised by former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is the first defendant in 1MDB’s US$5.64 billion civil suit against him and six others.
1MDB’s counsel Lee Shih informed High Court Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus of the matter on Wednesday.
“My Lord, this morning, the parties were served with a table of objections concerning Shahrol Azral’s witness statement, with about 80% of its contents objected to on hearsay grounds.
“Thus, we needed time to study this. Shahrol Azral is ready to give testimony starting from tomorrow,” he said. The court then allowed the request, with the trial to continue on Thursday.
Earlier, the third plaintiff witness, offshore asset recovery specialist Angela Barkhouse, was released from the witness stand on Wednesday after completing her testimony, which began on Monday.
1MDB and its subsidiaries — 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, 1MDB Energy Ltd, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd and Global Diversified Investment Company Ltd, formerly known as 1MDB Global Investments Ltd — filed the civil suit on May 7, 2021.
They named Najib, 1MDB’s former finance director Terrence Geh Choh Heng, former executive director Casey Tang Keng Chee, former chief investment officer Vincent Beng Huat Koh, former chief operating officer Radhi Mohamad, former investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jim and former chief investment officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil as defendants.
The writ of summons stated that the plaintiffs, among other things, accused the defendants of breach of trust, breach of statutory duty, abuse of power and conspiracy to misappropriate 1MDB funds.
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