Kuala lumpur: The High Court today adjourned the hearing of 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) USD5.64 billion civil suit against Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and six others after the defence objected to substantial portions of the witness statement of former Public Accounts Committee (PAC) member Tony Pua. On the third day of the trial, Pua, the plaintiffs' second witness, was due to take the stand, but the hearing was interrupted after Najib's counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, objected to significant portions of his statement, arguing that they were based on second-hand information rather than Pua's personal knowledge.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Muhammad Shafee contended that Pua's statement was largely opinion-based and that he was presenting evidence as if he were the chief investigator, relying on second-hand sources. He argued that references to media outlets and investigations conducted in other countries were inadmissible without calling the relevant witnesses for cross-examination.
Counsel Lee Shih, representing the plaintiffs, argued that Pua's references were intended to establish that various events, press releases, and reports had taken place, providing context to the political climate in Malaysia at the time. He stated that Pua was not called to prove the truth of the underlying allegations but to establish that certain events occurred.
Lee applied for an adjournment to prepare and file written submissions in response to the defence's objections. Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus granted the adjournment and scheduled the continuation for the next day.
1MDB and its subsidiaries filed the civil suit on May 7, 2021, naming Najib and several former executives as defendants. The writ of summons accused the defendants of breach of trust, breach of statutory duty, abuse of power, and conspiracy to misappropriate 1MDB funds.
On December 26, 2025, the High Court sentenced Najib to 15 years' imprisonment and fined him RM11.4 billion after finding him guilty on charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving 1MDB funds.