KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today set Dec 13 for a decision on the application of the prosecution to forfeit a sum of RM1,054,019.22 which has been frozen by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last year allegedly related to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fraudulent fund scandal.
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali set the date after hearing arguments from both sides during the case’s hearing.
In the proceeding, the prosecution was represented by deputy public prosecutor Allan Suman Pillai and Abdul Rashid Sulaiman while counsel G. Nadaraja appeared for Kedah UMNO Liaison Committee which was named as the respondent.
In his argument, Abdul Rashid stressed that the respondent did not inspect the source of money owned by the committee as to whether they are legal or not.
“Therefore the question is to what extend is the source of money legitimate or not,” he said.
Meanwhile, the respondent’s counsel G. Nadaraja submitted that there was no evidence tendered by the prosecution saying that there was ill-gotten money received by the respondent in 2017 and 2018.
Earlier, Justice Mohd Nazlan dismissed a preliminary objection (PO) raised by the defence for him to recuse himself from hearing the forfeiture application ruling as there was no real danger of bias for him to hear the case.
“He said the proceeds to be forfeited does not have anything to do with the ongoing SRC International Sdn Bhd case,” he said.
Nadaraja in his PO said the application for forfeiture filed by the prosecution was based on investigations into the ongoing SRC case in which Justice Mohd Nazlan is presiding on.
in his argument, Abdul Rashid stressed that the forfeiture application was not based on the SRC case but it was based on 1MDB case which is being heard in another court.
The judge will also decide on the other two POs by the respondent on the amendment of an affidavit in relation to the case and on the non-compliance of the prosecution under Section 9(c) of the Societies Act 1966 on the same day.
In a press conference held previously, MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said it had filed forfeiture suit against 41 respondents in order to recover about RM270 million in funds linked to the 1MDB.
Latheefa said the move was in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) as the MACC alleged the money had been transferred from the bank account of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
— BERNAMA
