MACC investigation based on Sarawak Report article.
8.59am: Former prime minister Najib Razak enters the court and takes a seat at the front row of the public gallery.
Also seen awaiting proceedings to begin are Attorney-General Tommy Thomas and other presecutors, as well as Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and other members of the defence.
9.10am: Najib enters the dock as proceedings resume with the 57th witness, MACC investigating officer Rosli Hussain, to be questioned by deputy public prosecutor Suhaimi Ibrahim.
9.24am: Suhaimi asks Rosli to verify documents involved in his investigation.
9.42am: Rosli continues to verify documents related to SRC, including board memorandums seized by enforcement authorities in mid-2015.
10am: Rosli says he did not receive any document from the defence stating it was not the signature of Najib on various bank documents related to the 2015 SRC probe.
Suhaimi: As the (MACC) investigating officer, have you received documents from the defence stating that the accused’s signature in the (bank) documents that you received was not the accused’s signature, or that the accused’s signature was inserted (into the documents)?
Rosli: None, Yang Arif.
Yesterday, Rosli told the court that when questioned by MACC, Najib confirmed it was his signature on various bank documents linked to his AmBank accounts.
Among these were documents authorising transfers of millions of ringgit, and a letter appointing SRC CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil as the mandate holder of the accounts.
10.08am: Rosli confirms that investigations were based on a Sarawak Report article, ‘SENSATIONAL FINDINGS! – Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Personal Accounts Linked To 1MDB Money Trail’, published on July 2, 2015.
10.10am: Rosli says based on his knowledge, no MACC officers contacted Clare-Rewcastle Brown, the Sarawak Report editor.
10.19am: Rosli was made investigating officer on July 6, 2015, a few days after an investigating paper was lodged by an officer, Prem Raj, from the accounting forensics division on July 3.
10.22am: After the report was lodged, Prem went to the SRC office. This was days before the Bank Negara raid on AmBank.
10.24am: The investigation paper was given to the MACC director on December 31, 2015, which meant that the investigation was over.
10.25am: On June 12, 2018, the investigation paper was again given to the director when MACC was asked to continue investigations.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Harvinderjit Singh, Rosli says the paper was forwarded with a suggestion to charge Najib in court.
Harvinderjit: Have you ever met with Tommy Thomas over these investigations?
Rosli: After I finished my investigations, yes. I think I met him once or twice.
Harvinderjit: You said in your investigations that you were assisted by other officers from different departments, some of them from MACC branches in other states. Which states were they?
Rosli: Pahang, Penang, Johor and Sabah.
10.29am: Rosli is asked if he had investigated other cases other than 1MDB which involved Najib. He replies “no”.
Harvinderjit: I want it clear, yes? I was not involved in any other case involving Najib except for SRC. Agree?
Rosli: Yes, I agree.
Harvinderjit is now showing him some documents to verify. There is some tension as Rosli seems visibly frustrated with the lawyer’s line of questioning earlier about when the investigation ended.
10.50am: Harvinderjit shifts his line of questioning, and zooms in on where whistleblower website Sarawak Report got its information on SRC.
Harvinderjit says Sarawak Report published its article on SRC on July 2, 2015, days before MACC launched its probe on July 6.
He asks Rosli if his team had investigated a possible leak of bank documents.
The officer replies in the negative, and says his team focused on the possible violations of MACC Act 2009, Penal Code, and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
Harvinderjit: In your probe, you visited the banks. This means that before your team went there to get the documents, there was already a situation where these documents had been leaked (to Sarawak Report) already.
Rosli: Based on this (circumstance), we can assume that.
Harvinderjit: Did you find out who in AmIslamic Bank leaked the document?
Rosli: Oh, I do not know.
Harvinderjit: So can we say that you didn’t find it important to investigate this (leak)?
Rosli: It should be for the police to investigate.
Harvinderjit: So it is not important for you to probe?
Rosli: Yes, I was focusing on my investigation.
Harvinderjit: You wouldn’t know if other documents from the bank had been leaked (as well)?
Rosli: Yes (I would not).
11am: Rosli says he cannot confirm that documents seized from AmIslamic Bank in relation to the SRC probe were not manipulated.
Harvinderjit: From what we saw before July 6, 2015, there had already been a situation where there was a leak from AmIslamic Bank, correct?
Rosli: That is the assumption.
Harvinderjit: Can you confirm that there is no manipulation of all the documents in these folders (seized by Bank Negara from AmIslamic Bank on July 6, 2015)?
Rosli: I received it as is.
Harvinderjit: You cannot say for sure that there is no manipulation on these folders before July 6, 2015?
Rosli: Yes, I agree.
11.19am: Court takes a short break.
11.27am: Court resumes.
Harvinderjit now takes Rosli through the aforementioned Sarawak Report article.
In the article, there is a letter from Faisal to AmBank, which is a standing order. Rosli confirms it.
11.33am: Rosli says the last witness statement was recorded by MACC in May 2019. That was Shuzairizman Shuib, the Bank Negara investigating officer who was the 46th witness.
11.34am: Harvinderjit asks if Rosli took statements from Ranjit Singh (the prosecution’s 55th witness), to which he says “No”.
DPP V Sithambaram objects to his line of questioning.
Harvinderjit tells Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali he wants to ask Rosli about when he recorded statements.
Sithambaram says Harvinderjit should ask the witnesses themselves instead of the investigating officer.
11.55am: Nazlan allows the defence to question Rosli about which witnesses he interviewed in the 2015 probe into SRC.
This follows a heated exchange between Shafee, Harvinderjit, and Sithambaram.
Sithambaram argues the defence cannot ask Rosli about the witnesses and when their statements were taken. This is as all 56 material witnesses – excluding Rosli – have already been called to testify.
“All witnesses relevant to the case have been called and questioned (in court),” he says.
Harvinderjit argues that the defence is merely seeking to know who was questioned and when.
Shafee backs Harvinderjit by saying that even though the prosecution believes the request to be immaterial to the current case, the defence may think it is relevant to Najib’s defence.
“Proceed,” Nazlan says in allowing the application.
12.16pm: Rosli recorded six statements from former AmBank customer relationship manager Joanna Yu between August 2015 and June 12, 2018.
Rosli says this during cross-examination by Harvinderjit.
“Statements (from Yu) were recorded six times. The first time in August 2015 and then between August and November that year for a total of five times (in 2015).
“The last statement was recorded (from Yu) on June 12, 2018,” he says.
12.23pm: Rosli tells the court that he had called Joanna Yu and met her twice in May 2019 to verify the names in her chat logs.
Harvinderjit suggests that he already knew who they were.
Rosli: It’s for the record. What’s the problem?
12.25pm: Harvinderjit asks why she had to come and see Rosli three times.
Rosli says he only saw her twice.
Yu previously said she had been to the MACC three times.
12.32pm: Rosli tells the court that they took Jho Low’s statements on November 27, 2015.
Harvinderjit asks Rosli if he had shown Low the chat logs.
Rosli says he did show them to Low but Low had denied any knowledge of them.
Rosli previously said he had taken Low’s statement in Abu Dhabi.
12.58pm: Rosli says he also recorded statements from Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the former governor of Bank Negara Malaysia.
He says he didn’t meet her but interviewed her over the phone.
1pm: Harvinderjit tells the court that he has only completed a part of his cross-examination on Rosli.
He says that he might need another day and a half to finish his cross-examination before Shafee takes over.
Nazlan then adjourns the hearing to 9.30am Thursday.
Today’s hearing was cut short as Nazlan is involved in another ongoing case.
He had also informed the lawyers earlier that he has other cases tomorrow.
Earlier reports:
Aug 19, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 54
Aug 14, SRC Trial Postponed as Najib Down with Sore Eyes
Aug 13, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 52
Aug 9, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 51
Aug 7, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 50
Aug 6, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 49
Aug 5, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 48
Aug 1, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 47
July 31, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 46
July 29, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 45
July 25, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 44
July 24, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 43 Vacated
July 23, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 42
July 22, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 41
July 18, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 40
July 17, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 39
July 16, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 38
July 15, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 37
July 11, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 36
July 10, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 35
July 9, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 34
July 8, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 33
July 3, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 32
July 3, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 31
July 1, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 30
June 20, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 29
June 19, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 28
June 18, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 27
June 17, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 26
June 14, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 25
June 13, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 24
June 12, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 23
June 11, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 22
June 10, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 21
May 28, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 20
May 27, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 19
May 15, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 18
May 14, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 17
May 9, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 16
May 8, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 15
May 7, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 14
May 7, Najib Fails in Second Bid to Remove Sri Ram as 1MDB Lead Prosecutor
May 7, Najib Signed Guarantee Letter for RM2B KWAP Loan to SRC, KWAP Rules Breached
May 6, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 13
May 2, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 12
May 2, RM1M Golden Handshake in Final Month as PM for Najib
Apr 30, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 11
Apr 29, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day 10
Apr 29, Court Throws Out Najib’s Application to Strike Out 7 SRC Charges, Trial to Go On
Apr 25, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Nine
Apr 24, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Eight
Apr 24, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Seven
Apr 22, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Six
Apr 18, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Five
Apr 17, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Four
Apr 16, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Three
Apr 15, Najib’s SRC Trial: Day Two
Apr 3, Najib Trial: Day One