KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has acquitted and discharged both former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy in the 1MDB audit tampering trial on Friday (March 3).

Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, who is now a Court of Appeal judge, made the decision after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against them.

This is Najib's third criminal case which is currently being heard in the courts.

His first conviction and sentence came from the RM42mil SRC International Sdn Bhd case, which is currently at the leave application stage for a review at the Federal Court while the RM2.28bil 1MDB case is being heard at another High Court.

The prosecution in the 1MDB audit report tampering trial closed its case on Sept 7, last year, after calling 16 witnesses.

Witnesses included the late Tan Sri Ali Hamsa who was the former chief secretary to the government, former auditors-general Tan Sri Ambrin Buang and Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad, former 1MDB chairman Tan Sri Bakke Salleh, and former National Audit Department audit director Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad.

Najib, 70, is accused of abusing his position to order amendments to the 1MDB final audit report to avoid any action being taken against him while Arul Kanda, 46, is accused of abetting him in making the amendments to the report.

The offence was allegedly committed at the Prime Minister's Department Complex at the Federal Government Administrative Centre in Putrajaya between Feb 22 and 26, 2016.

Both men were charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009, which provides a jail term of up to 20 years and a fine of no less than five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2023/03/03/1mdb-audit-tampering-trial-najib-arul-kanda-freed-from-charges