Question: From your point of view, from the beginning of the trip to Saudi and to completion, it was already planned, you only went there to complete the “cerita” (narrative), and did not ask any (questions from the alleged Arab donor), go there to eat and then go back (to Malaysia)?

Answer: Yes, correct.

Question: Do you agree if I suggest that this four-and-a-half-page statement (of al-Koman) was already prepared beforehand (before the delegation’s arrival in Riyadh) and your job and Hafaz (Nazar, an MACC recording officer) were only to cut and paste the MACC statement.

Answer: Yes.

COMMENT | The above exchange was not ordinary. It reflected the competency, capability, and aptitude of the agency whose senior officer provided the answers.

The inquisitor was deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, and MACC’s senior assistant commissioner Nasharudin Amir provided the answers, a defence witness at the trial of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is accused of abuse of power and money laundering involving RM2.27 billion linked to 1MDB.