Sri Ram tells why Arul Kanda would be a relevant witness in Najib’s 1MDB audit report trial

Lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram today told the court that former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy was a relevant witness to be called as he might have spoken with Najib Razak about the amendments to the final audit report, which the one-time prime minister is on trial for ordering.

Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge, said that Arul, as Najib’s accomplice, was in a position to testify regarding the conduct of his co-accused, Malay daily Berita Harian reported.

According to the report, Sri Ram also pointed to evidence that Arul Kanda had attended meetings on Feb 24 and 25, 2016, adding that he was the CEO at the time while Najib was chairman of the 1MDB advisory board.

“He knew about the charges as he attended the meetings, and through communication with Najib,” he was quoted as saying.

“He also knew about all of the conversations relevant to the charges.”

On May 20, Sri Ram said Arul Kanda might have information relating to transactions with Najib which would affect the outcome of the prosecution of the former leader.

Najib, 68, is charged with using his position to order amendments to the final 1MDB audit report before it was presented to the Public Accounts Committee to prevent any action from being taken against him.

Arul Kanda, 45, is charged with abetting Najib in making the amendments to the report, to protect the former prime minister from being subjected to action.

The application to call Arul Kanda to testify against Najib was made under Section 63 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.

Speaking today, Arul Kanda’s lawyer N Sivananthan said his client was ready to take the stand.

However, Najib’s lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said the prosecution was acting with malicious intent by submitting the application.

He also said that the application should have been made at the start of the trial in 2019 so that Arul Kanda would not hear the testimonies of other witnesses during the trial, Berita Harian said.

A decision will be made by judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan on June 24.