Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigating officer Nur Aida Arifin first took the stand on Jan 2 this year, but her examination-in-chief and cross-examination had taken place intermittently through the past five months. (Photo by Shahrin Yahya/The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR (May 29): After 16 days of cross-examination, the defence in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd-Tanore (1MDB-Tanore) trial has finally wrapped up its cross-examination of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer (IO) Nur Aida Arifin.

The anti-graft officer first took the stand on Jan 2 this year, but her examination-in-chief and cross-examination had taken place intermittently through the past five months. It was she who did the investigation into former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s four abuse of power charges.

Lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and defence lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman have been questioning Nur Aida on documentation process, documents received through the Mutual Legal Assistance arrangement, and a whole barrage of transactions, among others.

The cross-examination often took a winding, circuitous route, forcing a normally composed and lenient trial judge, Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, to interject numerous times in an effort to bring the lawyers back on track and stay on topic.

When Shafee informed the court that he was done with his cross-examination of the prosecution's 49th witness on Wednesday afternoon, Sequerah quipped, "That is heartening news."

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib began his re-examination and informed the court that he had 119 main questions for Nur Aida. He is expected to wrap up his re-examination on Thursday, when the trial resumes.

The circuitous nature of the trial, which began in 2019 and has gone on for some 200 trial days, has also led to the court setting Saturday dates, a first in the 1MDB-related cases.

Despite six years in, the trial is still at the tail-end of the prosecution's case. There are a handful of witnesses to be recalled before the case is wrapped up and the court decides whether Najib should enter his defence or walks free.

Sequerah is also no longer a High Court judge, as he was elevated to the Court of Appeal in January 2023.

Earlier, Nur Aida also testified that 1MDB's investments did not make any profit. The 37-year-old officer said this in response to Wan Azwan's query that independent power producer (IPP) acquisitions and also the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project were beneficial.

Nur Aida disagreed, saying that the IPPs were eventually sold to Chinese investors to settle 1MDB debt. Whereas for TRX, she testified that the funds were misappropriated, and as a result, the venture had to be funded by foreign investors.

In this trial, Najib faces four counts of abuse of power for using his position as the then prime minister, finance minister, and chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisers to receive gratifications worth US$620 million (RM2.27 billion). He also faces 21 money-laundering charges.