Trials of these cases were delayed due to the the movement control order (MCO) in March and later the conditional MCO which saw courts being closed for physical hearings.
Some of the accused persons and witnesses were unable to attend court as they were quarantined after coming into contact with persons who contracted the Covid-19 virus.
With the exception of Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan, all the accused were charged either in 2018 or last year.
Ex-prime minister Najib Razak’s 1MDB corruption and money laundering trial involving RM2.3 billion will resume on Jan 4. The case is still at the prosecution stage with former 1MDB CEO Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman, the 10th prosecution witness, still on the stand.
The Pekan MP’s 1MDB audit report trial for abuse of power will resume on Jan 18 and the prosecution is expected to call 11 more witnesses before closing its case.
The courts in both matters have now fixed trial dates until June to allow the prosecutors to close their cases without further interruptions.
Najib and former Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah are also facing six charges of criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM6.6 billion of government funds.
A 32-day trial has been fixed between September and October.
Najib will also be at the Court of Appeal in February and March to set aside his 12-year jail term and a fine of RM210 million after he was found guilty of seven charges – abuse of power, CBT and money laundering – related to RM42 million of SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.
Former deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is facing 12 CBT charges, eight for corruption and 27 for money laundering, totalling RM117 million.
The Umno president and Bagan Datuk MP’s case will resume on Jan 18 and will continue until March. The prosecution has called 90 witnesses with another eight more to go before it closes its case.
He is also facing another 40 charges of allegedly receiving gratification in the implementation of Malaysia’s foreign visa system, where the trial at the Shah Alam High Court is slated to begin on April 12.
Former Tabung Haji chairman and Baling MP Abdul Azeez Rahim is charged with three counts of bribery involving RM5.2 million linked to road projects in Perak and Kedah, and nine counts of money laundering involving nearly RM140 million.
Trial began in August, with the prosecution so far having called three witnesses. However, his lawyers recently told the Sessions Court that they have now filed an application in the High Court to quash all charges.
Ahmad Maslan, who is also Umno secretary-general, is charged with money laundering by not stating his real income on the RM2 million he received from Najib in his 2013 income tax return form.
He is also charged with giving false statements to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
The Sessions Court has fixed Ahmad’s trial to begin in July after the prosecution informed the court two weeks ago that the attorney-general (AG) had refused his third representation to drop the charges.
Kinabatangan MP and Sabah deputy chief minister Bung Moktar Radin, a former non-executive chairman of Felcra, was charged with three counts of taking a bribe amounting to RM3 million from public mutual investment agents through his wife Zizie Ezette.
Nine prosecution witnesses have testified with 17 more to go. Trial will resume on Jan 11.
Like Najib, Putrajaya MP and Umno treasurer Tengku Adnan Mansor will head to the Court of Appeal to set aside his one year jail term and RM2 million fine for receiving RM2 million from a businessman while holding public office in 2016.
Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor’s corruption trial for soliciting RM187.5 million and accepting RM6.5 million from a businessman for securing a solar project in Sarawak has come to a close after the prosecution concluded its case.
Trial Judge Mohamed Zaini Mazlan could decide early next year whether Rosmah ought to enter defence.
High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Ghazali will deliver judgment on Feb 3 on whether former Felda chairman Isa Samad is guilty of corruptly receiving about RM3 million from the purchase of a hotel in Kuching six years ago.
Lawyer A Srimurugan said notwithstanding the ongoing case before the trial courts, there were uncertainties until a verdict was delivered.
“The AG still retains control over the pending proceedings as he has discretion to withdraw the charges,” he said.
Srimurugan said the public perception was that the AG is a government appointee, and they could not be faulted for having such opinions based on three past incidents.
The lawyer was referring to the cases of the prosecution withdrawing the corruption and money laundering charges against former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman, Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz and former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng.