Malaysian senior counsel, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, was arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday (12 Sep), and is awaiting to be charged under the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2001 today.
Muhammad Shafee leads the defence legal team representing former premier Najib Razak against the latter’s charges entailing money laundering, criminal breach of trust, and abuse of power.
Previously in an affidavit by the Attorney-General’s Chambers issued on 6 Sep, Muhammad Shafee was accused of receiving payments totalling RM9.5mil between 2013 and 2014 from Najib, which other sources have alleged were made for the purpose of prosecuting former opposition leader and president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (People’s Justice Party) Anwar Ibrahim in the Sodomy II trials.
However, Muhammad Shafee dismissed the allegations by claiming that he was paid the sum in return for his legal services for Barisan Nasional and UMNO in general.
Former judge Gopal Sri Ram heads the prosecution team comprising Kamal Baharin Omar, Ahmad Akram Gharib, Afzainizam Abdul Aziz and Regine Sin, while the defence team comprises Harvinderjit Singh, Chetan Jethwani, Hasnal Rezua Merican, Sarah Abishegan, Rahmat Hazlan, and Muhammad Shafee’s own son, Muhammad Farhan.
