KUALA LUMPUR: The Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC) has yet to decide on Datuk Seri Najib Razak's request to quash his RM27 million money-laundering charges. Deputy public prosecutor Mohd Ashrof Adrin Kamarul updated the High Court during the case management proceedings today.
"The position is still the same. I do not think we (the A-GC) will be able to make any decision in the next few months.
"So we are seeking a new date for case management so that we will be able to inform the court for any latest development," he said before judge K. Muniandy.
Lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who appeared for Najib, requested that the court vacate the hearing dates in September, citing the defence's full schedule in August due to SRC International's civil lawsuit against Najib and former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MBD) chief executive Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
"We have moved the civil case, which has somehow been given priority.
"The learned judge is pushing to finish the case, so my client will be tied up in that court," he said.
The court then vacated the September hearing dates and fixed April 21 to 25 and May 19 to 23 next year.
The judge also fixed Feb 26 for case management.
On Feb 3, 2019, Najib claimed trial to three charges of money laundering by accepting proceeds from illegal activities amounting to RM27 million through his three AmPrivate Banking accounts. He allegedly committed all the offences at AmIslamic Bank Berhad, AmBank Group Building, No. 55, Jalan Raja Chulan, on July 8, 2014, under Section 4 (1) (a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001.
He faces a maximum fine of RM5 million or imprisonment of up to five years, or both, if convicted. Najib is serving a 12-year jail sentence in Kajang Prison after the Federal Court on Aug 23, 2022 upheld the conviction and jail term and a fine of RM210 million against him after finding him guilty of misappropriating SRC International Sdn Bhd funds amounting to RM42 million.