Ad hoc prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram told the court that the facts of the case showed that Najib had instructed his former principal private secretary, Shukry Salleh, to get the report from the national audit department.
He said Shukry had testified that Najib wanted the report “checked before it (went) for printing”.
“Shukry mentioned that the accused (Najib) was ‘afraid’ the then A-G (auditor-general Ambrin Buang) might write something out of the ordinary.
“If he (Najib) had no dirty linen, he could have gone to the PAC and given evidence. Nothing can prevent him from testifying,” Sri Ram said in his closing submissions.
Ambrin and his officers conducted their audit on 1MDB between March 9, 2015 and March 4, 2016.
They were supposed to table their findings to the PAC on Feb 24, 2016 but the proposed meeting did not take place.
Instead, Ambrin and several officers were told to attend a meeting at the office of then chief secretary, Ali Hamsa, on the same day.
Others present at the meeting included former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy, Shukry, senior treasury officials and an official from the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
After the meeting, four items were removed from the report. These involved references to two 2014 financial statements, the issuance of Islamic medium-term notes, the Islamic bonds’ secondary subscriber, and Low Taek Jho’s (Jho Low) presence at 1MDB board meetings.
The national audit department then tabled its 1MDB findings before the PAC from March 4 to 7, 2016.
Najib is standing trial for alleged abuse of power by attempting to secure immunity from legal action and causing amendments to the finalised 1MDB audit report before it was tabled at the PAC meeting.
Arul Kanda is accused of abetting Najib in his actions.
Sri Ram told the court that Najib had no business summoning Ambrin to meet him on Feb 22, 2016 over the report.
“He (Najib) was not vested with the power to do so,” he said.
Ambrin, who testified at the trial, said he met Najib at the Prime Minister’s Office on Feb 22, 2016, and told the former prime minister about two 2014 1MDB financial statements.
He said Najib promised him that the authorities would “get to the bottom of (the matter)”.
Ambrin and audit department not forced to make changes
Meanwhile, Najib’s lawyer Shafee Abdullah told the court that his client had not instructed Ambrin to make changes to the report but had merely expressed a general concern as to its contents.
Shafee said crucial witnesses such as Ambrin and former national audit department director Saadatul Nafisah Bashir Ahmad confirmed that they were not forced into making amendments to the report.
“Ambrin said he had the discretion whether to make the changes,” he added.
The lawyer pointed out that the prosecution had failed to present any evidence as to the potential civil or criminal action Najib was said to be subject to.
“Even if the particulars (in the original audit report) were tabled before the PAC, in what way did they expose him (Najib) to civil or criminal liability?” Shafee asked.
Justice Zaini Mazlan fixed Jan 30, 2023 for a decision on whether the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Najib, and whether to call for his defence.