Najib and Irwan claim trial to 6 CBT charges amounting to RM6.6b (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah were slapped with six charges of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) amounting to RM6.6 billion of government funds.
Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The court interpreter took five minutes to read out all the charges in Malay, to which both acknowledged that they understood.
They were charged before Sessions court Judge Azman Ahmad.
Najib was represented by senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah while Datuk K. Kumaraendran appeared for Irwan.
Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram appeared for the prosecution.
Irwan and Najib were charged together in their roles as Treasury secretary- general and finance minister respectively on six CBT charges.
1. On 21 Dec 2016 CBT of RM1.2 billion belonging to the government
2. On 21 Dec 2016 CBT of RM655 million belonging to the government
3. On Aug 3 2017 CBT of RM220 million in the federal consolidated fund of operation expenditure meant for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Berhad.
4. On Aug 10 2017 committed CBT of RM1.3 billion in the federal consolidated fund meant for subsidies and financial aid allegedly linked to the BR1M.
5. On Aug 23 2017 committed CBT of RM1.26 billion (Chinese Yuan 1.95billion) which is allegedly from Chinese authorities for the ECRL deal.
6. On 18 Dec 2017 committed CBT of RM2 billion belonging to the government of Malaysia.
They are being charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code for CBT by a public servant read together with Section 34 of the same code.
If found guilty they can be punished with a term of imprisonment of not less than two years and not more than 20 years, with whipping, and they shall be liable to a fine.
The sessions court has set bail at RM1 million in two sureties each for Najib and Irwan.
Shafee agreed with the bail amount but appealed to the court that his client, Najib, will need three weeks to pay the amount as he has already paid RM4.5 million in collective bail for his other cases.
Kumaraendran who is Irwan’s lawyer also agreed to the sum, but asked for half of the amount to be paid first and the other half ten days later.
Kumaraendran said his client had been a dedicated civil servant for 20 years and could not afford a large bail.
Hence, a prohibitively large bail would be counterproductive and would only result in his client languishing in jail while waiting for trial, he added.
The court has decided that they both must pay RM500,000 and the remainder must be paid ten days from today.