PETALING JAYA: Ad hoc prosecutor Datuk V. Sithambaram told the Federal Court today that trial judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali’s previous employment as Maybank’s general counsel did not preclude him from hearing Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak’s SRC International trial, FMT reports.
“Maybank did some work for SRC and was paid RM800,000 in fees,” Sithambaram said.
“So what if Nazlan had worked for the bank,” he asked.
Sithambaram reportedly submitted that Nazlan’s previous employment did not mean there was a conflict of interests that prevented him from presiding over the trial.
Today’s five-member panel was led by chief justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, and comprises chief judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim and the Federal Court’s Datuk Nallini Pathmanathan, Datuk Mary Lim Thiam Suan, and Datuk Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah.
In the June filing, the Pekan MP had said Nazlan had failed to disclose his role in his previous job as Maybank’s company secretary and group general counsel in 2012.
