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KUALA LUMPUR: Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial ended abruptly today after the High Court was informed that a key prosecution witness had come into close contact with a Covid-19 patient.
Assistant District Attorney Ahmad Akram Gharib informed Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that former 1MDB CEO Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman received a message from his friend when the court was withdrawn for a break.
Hazem met up with his friend on Monday. They were sitting 2 meters apart, but then their meeting lasted for more than an hour.
“The prosecution seeks direction from the court on whether we should continue the process today or stop it now,” he said.
Akram said that if the court insisted on proceeding, the prosecution would be in a difficult position to prepare another witness to testify.
Najib’s lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, told the court that “they should not take the risk.”
Sequerah later said that “it is not wise to take the risk and we do not know if Hazem is asymptomatic.”
The judge postponed the hearing and set May 3 for its resumption.
“Will the prosecution be able to inform the court of the result of Hazem’s test?” Sequerah asked.
In response, Akram said the prosecution will inform the court of the outcome as soon as possible.
Najib is on trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds worth RM2.28 billion deposited to his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
