News by Timothy Achariam

ICU occupancy rate in Klang Valley jumps to 113%

Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who is defending Datuk Seri Najib Razak against power abuse and money laundering charges in the 1MDB-Tanore trial, said this when emphasising Jho Low’s influence in manipulating people globally.

Lawyer Wan Aizuddin Wan Mohammed had questioned former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) CEO Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman about signatures from transfer instructions of 1MDB’s subsidiary 1MDB Global Investment Ltd (1MDB GIL), whereby hundreds of millions dollars were transferred out to shell companies, among others.

Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah accused the IRB of being unethical for announcing the suit to the media even before serving him with the legal papers

The three-member bench led by Judge Datuk Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil remarked that the hearing, which began early last month, took exceptionally long to conclude. The appeal had taken 15 full days.

Thomas said Sri Ram, a former Federal Court judge, enjoyed all powers of the public prosecutor as his appointment was made under Section 376(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Wan Aizuddin asked Mohd Hazem about the agreement between 1MDB and Aabar Investments.

This comes after reports saying 1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd had filed several civil suits to recover billions of dollars in losses suffered by the firms. Six suits were filed by 1MDB and its subsidiaries, while another 16 were by SRC.

One of the suits was against Wong & Partners and Chia for a sum of US$1 billion and payment of legal fees of RM664,821.21 for their alleged role in the fraud. The law firm had represented 1MDB in the past.

"Nothing the firm did or did not do caused any loss to 1MDB. Therefore, the extraordinary sum claimed is wholly unjustified and an attempt to pressure the firm into a settlement."

Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor had last week filed two applications before the High Court, one to nullify proceedings of her trial, where she has been called to enter her defence, and the other is to challenge the appointment of Sri Ram as the lead prosecutor.