00:01The Kuala Lumpur High Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of one Malaysia Development Berhad,
00:07one MDB's US$5.64 billion civil suit against Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and six others
00:16after the defence objected to substantial portions of the witness statement
00:20of former Public Accounts Committee member Tony Pua.
00:25On the third day of the trial, Pua, the plaintiff's second witness, was scheduled to testify.
00:31However, proceedings were halted after Najib's lead counsel, Tanshri Muhammad Shafi Abdullah,
00:38argued that much of the statement was based on hearsay rather than Pua's personal knowledge.
00:44Muhammad Shafi submitted that Pua's statement relied on media reports and findings from foreign investigations,
00:50including those in Singapore, Hong Kong and Switzerland, instead of first-hand evidence.
00:57He argued that such material was inadmissible and that the relevant witnesses should be called to testify.
01:04Counsel Li Xi, representing the plaintiffs, said the references were not intended to prove the truth of the allegations
01:11but to establish the chronology of events and the political context relevant to the issue of limitation.
01:18He maintained that the alleged fraud could only be uncovered after the change of government
01:24and that the defence remained free to cross-examine Pua on the matters raised.
01:30Li then applied for an adjournment to allow the plaintiffs to file written submissions in reply to the defence's objections.
01:38Judicial Commissioner Mohamed Redzouan Idris allowed the application and fixed the matter for further hearing on Thursday.
01:46The suit was filed on May 7, 2021, by 1MDB and its subsidiaries against Najib and six former 1MDB officers,
01:57alleging breach of trust, breach of statutory duty, abuse of power and conspiracy to misappropriate 1MDB funds.
02:05On December 26, 2025, the High Court sentenced Najib to 15 years imprisonment and fined him 11.4 billion ringgit
02:15after finding him guilty of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving 2.3
02:23billion ringgit in 1MDB funds.
02:35Thank you, Jennifer.
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