KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial is planning to call former 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan as a prosecution witness, the High Court was told today.
Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib said Loo would be called based on the testimony of the 48th prosecution witness, Bukit Aman anti-money laundering crime investigation team head ACP Foo Wei Min.
He said Foo's testimony has opened the gap in the case involving the former prime minister.
Previously on Nov 16, Foo agreed with Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah's suggestion that Loo could be the main witness in either nailing Najib in his coffin and burying him further or proving his client's innocence, concerning Tanore Finance Corporation which had transferred US$681mil (RM3.19bil) into the former prime minister's personal bank account.
Loo, who became a fugitive after the fall of the Barisan Nasional government during the 14th General Election in 2018, is now under police witness protection after she was arrested on July 23 this year.
Meanwhile, in today's proceedings, the court finished hearing the testimony of the prosecution's 47th witness, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan.
Adam, who was part of the 1MDB task force in 2018, was responsible for preparing the 1MDB money flow trail report.
Shafee later informed the court that he has to cross-examine former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, who is the 46th prosecution witness and former 1MDB chief financial officer Azmi Tahir, after the hearing of the final prosecution witness Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation officer Nur Aida Arifin's testimony.
On Dec 15, the 1MDB corruption trial was cut short when Aida revealed that she had tested positive for Covid-19.
Aida is under quarantine until today (Monday).
Najib, 70, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial before Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Jan 2.