Najib diberi DNAA kes pengggubahan wang haram

BEKAS Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak hari ini dilepas tanpa dibebaskan (DNAA) daripada tiga pertuduhan pengubahan wang haram melibatkan dana syarikat SRC International Sdn Bhd (SRC).

Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur K Muniandy membenarkan permohonan yang dikemukakan bekas perdana menteri atas alasan kes berkenaan berlanjutan begitu lama, manakala pihak pendakwaan dianggap tidak bersedia memulakannya dalam masa terdekat.

Untuk rekod, kes yang dibicarakan ini berbeza daripada satu lagi kes melibatkan Najib dan SRC.

Najib yang juga bekas Presiden Umno mengaku tidak bersalah atas tiga pertuduhan pengubahan wang haram – berjumlah RM27 juta – pada 3 Feb 2019.

Dia didakwa menggunakan wang tersebut untuk aktiviti tidak mengikut undang-undang.

Najib dituduh melakukan kesalahan berkenaan di AmIslamic Bank Bhd, Bangunan Ambank Group, Jalan Raja Chulan, pada 8 Julai 2014.

Ahli politik berusia 71 tahun itu berdepan dengan hukuman denda maksimum RM5 juta atau penjara tidak melebihhi lima tahun atau kedua-duanya jika sabit kesalahan.

Dia didakwa mengikut Seksyen 4(1)(a) Akta Pencegahan Pengubahan Wang Haram dan Pencegahan Pembiayaan Keganasan 2001.

Minggu lalu peguam Najib, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, berkata tidak adil untuk membiarkan anak guamnya terumbang-ambing tanpa tarikh perbicaraan yang jelas apabila pihak pendakwaan tidak dapat menentukan bila mereka akan dapat menyusun eksibit daripada perbicaraan SRC sebelum ini.

Najib – kini ditahan di Penjara Kajang – sudah disabitkan bersalah atas tujuh pertuduhan pecah amanah, salah guna kedudukan dan pengubahan wang haram pada Julai 2020.

Pertuduhan itu melibatkan dana SRC bernilai RM42 juta.

Hakim Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali memerintahkan Najib dipenjara 12 tahun dan denda RM210 juta.

 

Najib given DNAA over money laundering case

THE Kuala Lumpur High Court has discharged but not acquitted jailed former Prime Minister Najib Razak of money laundering charges in a long-running case involving a former unit of scandal-tainted state fund 1MDB, his lawyer said on Friday.
Najib has been in prison since August 2022 after being found guilty of corruption and money laundering over funds misappropriated from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB, from which Malaysian and U.S. authorities say about $4.5 billion was stolen in a complex, globe-spanning scheme.
He was also facing three separate money laundering charges over 27 million ringgit ($6.4 million) allegedly misappropriated from SRC.
The case had repeatedly stalled since 2019 due to procedural delays, prompting the Kuala Lumpur High Court to grant Najib’s request for a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on Friday, his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said.
Muhammad Shafee said the decision was a fair one, as the prosecution remained free to re-file the charges once they were ready to proceed.
“So (Najib) isn’t left waiting or as they say, no longer has the sword of Damocles hanging over his head,” he said.
The attorney-general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Friday’s decision was the second time 1MDB-linked charges filed against Najib have been dropped. Last year, a court allowed another DNAA request due to procedural delays in a corruption case against the ex-premier and the country’s former treasury chief.
In 2023, he was also acquitted on separate charges of tampering with a government audit into 1MDB.
Najib is still awaiting a verdict over the 1MDB scandal, with the court expected to hear closing arguments in October.
He has denied all of the charges brought against him.