Kuala Lumpur: The director-general of the Protection Division, Prime Minister’s Department (BPJPM), has applied to quash the subpoena issued against him to testify in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) embezzlement case involving Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, BPJPM’s senior federal counsel, Nur Hidayah Raihan Md Nasir, stated that Najib’s defense team served the subpoena yesterday, requiring the director-general (DG) to provide testimony regarding former Goldman Sachs Investment Banking head Roger Ng Chong Hwa. The subpoena was served at 11 am, demanding the DG’s testimony concerning Roger Ng. The senior federal counsel expressed the intention to have the subpoena set aside orally.
The counsel argued that the application is warranted due to the DG of BPJPM being bound by the Witness Protection Act, which enforces a confidentiality obligation prohibiting the discussion of any information related to participants or matters within the witness protection program. Even if summoned, the DG would be legally constrained from providing any responses.
Nur Hidayah Raihan Md Nasir further clarified that the subpoena lacked specificity regarding the reasons for the DG’s required court appearance. A subsequent phone conversation with the defense indicated their intent to question him about Roger Ng. The short notice period, being less than 24 hours, hindered the filing of necessary cause papers for the application to set aside the subpoena.
Najib’s counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, expressed surprise at the objection concerning the subpoena. Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah directed that the application to quash the subpoena be filed by Friday, with a hearing scheduled for the following Tuesday.
In 2023, the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Razarudin Husain, confirmed Roger Ng’s return to Malaysia to assist in the 1MDB financial scandal probe. Roger Ng, facing a 10-year prison sentence after a conviction in New York for aiding in the embezzlement of 1MDB funds, is set to be extradited to the United States for related charges.
On October 30 last year, Judge Sequerah ordered Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to enter his defense, concluding that a prima facie case had been established against him. Najib, 71, is defending himself against four charges of using his position to receive bribes totaling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds, alongside 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount. The trial is set to resume tomorrow.