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KUALA LUMPUR: Former 1MDB president and CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy has claimed trial to a charge of tampering auditor general’s audit report on the investment arm today.
According to the charge was read before sessions court judge Rozana Ayub, he was accused of abetting former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak in the offence.
The offence is alleged to have taken place at the Prime Minister’s Office between Feb 22 and 26, 2016.
Arul was charged under Section 28 (1)(c) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act read together with Section 23(1) and 25(1) of the same Act.
If found guilty, he can be jailed 20 years and fined RM10,000 or five times the amount of bribe received.
The court allowed bail of RM500,000 with one surety, to be paid today. His passport has to be surrendered to court.
Arul’s lawyer Datuk N. Sivanathan appealed for the bail to be paid in instalments of RM250,000 today and the remainder tomorrow as he claimed his client was currently jobless and would need time to raise the amount.
However, deputy public prosecutor Akram Gharib objected to this.
Former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram who is the lead prosecutor by way of “fiat” (authorisation) said they would be seeking a join trial with Najib.
The judge set next mention on Jan 4, next year.
