KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — Prominent senior lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah is back in courts today to lead Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s defence team as the former prime minister faces additional charges in connection with the misappropriation of money from a former subsidiary of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund.
Shafee led seven other lawyers and two chambering students.
The prosecution team, comprising 11 lawyers from the Attorney-General's Chambers, was led by Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria. Attorney-General Tommy Thomas was absent.
The prosecution team featured the same list of deputy public prosecutors that pursued charges of criminal breach of trust and power abuse over RM42 million in two previous cases against Najib.
Lawyers Datuk K. Kumaraendran and Datuk Geethan Ram Vincent, acting on behalf of Najib’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, were also present and held a watching brief.
Also in the Sessions Court here was Najib, sitting in the dock, where additional charges of money-laundering over a sum of RM42 million were read out to him.
Najib today pleaded not guilty to the three counts of money-laundering, with this case to be heard jointly with the two other previous cases.
Trial dates have yet to be fixed for the three cases.
Najib did not have to post bail today, as the courts allowed an extension of the RM1 million bail from the previous two cases to today's new money-laundering case.
