Najib's SRC Trial: Defence request for verification report on cheque transactions allowed

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 (Bernama) -  The defence team of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is on trial requested the fifth prosecution witness to submit a verification report on cheque transactions contained in the banking system of Ambank’s  Jalan Raja Chulan branch.

Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allowed the application by Najib’s lawyer Harvinderjit Singh after there was no objection from the prosecution. 

Earlier, senior manager at the Cheque Processing Division of Ambank’s Jalan Raja Branch,  Badrul Hisam Mohamad, said he could submit the report when asked by Harvinderjit if he could do so.

  Harvinderjit: Can you check your data to verify whether the information in this account is correct or not?

 Badrul Hisam: Yes.

Judge: So you want him to come and produce the report in court?

Harvinderjit: Yes 

Prior to that, Harvinderjit referred several cheques to the witness for confirmation of the validity of the details, including the recipient's name, date and account number.

Earlier, Badrul Hisam agreed with Havinderjit that each cheque should be checked beforehand to determine if it had been cashed or otherwise.

He said if a cheque was rejected, the bank would issue a notice to the issuer of the cheque.

"This will be handled by the bank's manager with the cheque processing division to settle the matter. Then the bank manager will inform the account holder regarding the rejection of the cheque," he said.

Deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Saifuddin Hashim Musaimi is leading the prosecution at the trial 

Najib, 66, is facing three counts of criminal breach of trust, one charge of abusing his position and three counts of money laundering over SRC International Sdn Bhd funds amounting to RM42 million.

The trial continues.

-- BERNAMA