KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 — It is too early to say if Datuk Seri Najib Razak will face more charges in the future as his two criminal cases today are merely based on the first investigation paper, Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas said.
Thomas, who is leading the prosecution against Najib, declined to comment on the possibility of additional future charges against Najib.
“We can’t say, we can’t comment on that because it depends on when the next investigation paper comes.
“This is as things stand today,” he told reporters after Najib was charged and pleaded not guilty in two cases over RM42 million funds of former 1MDB unit SRC International Sdn Bhd.
He noted that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has indicated there will be more investigation papers.
“This is arising from the first MACC investigation paper, which was given to my office three weeks ago,” he said, referring to today’s cases.
“I issued a press release three weeks ago and this is the fruits of that investigation and the charges arising from the first investigation paper.”
“No doubt there will be more investigation papers but I think you have to ask MACC that, because, as you know, they do the investigations and we do the prosecution. The lines are pretty clearly demarcated,” he added.
Anyone else beyond Najib?
When asked if anyone else will be charged over SRC and 1MDB besides Najib, Thomas replied: “SRC — I don’t know, it’s a bit too early, but 1MDB certainly down the road, because this whole thing is from 1MDB, so you could expect MACC to investigate 1MDB.”
He said the word 1MDB is a shorthand statement to describe what took place over a four- to five-year period.
“There were discreet separate transactions over a four-, five-year period which is in the public domain, which the US Department of Justice has detailed, so there are different taxations, different episodes over a long period of time.
“And I would expect MACC to look at it that way, and then when they complete, come and give it to us,” he said.
Surprised by the ruckus
When asked about Najib’s supporters who heckled him when he was attempting to give a press conference, Thomas said he was “a little surprised” as he was expecting to take questions from the media when it happened.
“But it is recorded for posterity, it’s probably online and everybody can make their own minds up.
“But it was sad because we couldn’t answer questions. We are quite happy to answer questions but it must be in a civilised fashion. That’s all we ask.
“We are not hiding, we are happy to answer,” he said.
Thomas’ initial press conference had to be cancelled after it was disrupted by loud protesters who shouted for him to conduct the press conference in the Malay language.
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