Witness Identifies Riza Aziz, Arul Kanda, Five Others as Key Players in 1MDB Saga

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Najib Razak’s stepson Riza Aziz and former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) CEO Arul Kanda were among seven key people linked to the state investment fund who were identified in court today by Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin.

The former special officer to Najib was told to identify the seven people mentioned in his 77-page witness statement that included his descriptions of the inner workings of 1MDB and the roles played by Najib and fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.

The other five who were identified were former 1MDB chairman Lodin Che Wok Kamarudin, Najib’s former special officer Ahmad Shihab Wan Ismail, former 1MDB managing director and CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim, Dennis See and Azmi Tahir.

Arul Kanda is currently being tried for allegedly abetting Najib in tampering with a National Audit Department report on 1MDB.

All seven were called to appear before Justice Collin Sequerah and will serve as the prosecution’s witnesses in the days ahead.

Riza, who co-founded Hollywood production company Red Granite Pictures, was charged in July with five counts of laundering money amounting to US$248 million (RM1.25 billion), which was allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB.

The trial will take place in the Kuala Lumpur High Court in January. – TMI