PUTRAJAYA: The High Court was told that a witness in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is missing.
Najib's lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin said that Brian Chia, a former partner at the law firm Wong & Partners, was unreachable.
Wong & Partners was previously a legal adviser to 1MDB.
"Since January, we have attempted to contact him but to no avail.
"We also contacted and spoke to other lawyers in the legal fraternity. They also do not know where he (Chia) is at the moment.
"To the best of our assumption, he is not within the jurisdiction," Wan Azwan said at the RM2.28bil 1MDB trial here on Thursday.
Chia was scheduled to take the stand as the 10th defence witness in Thursday’s (Feb 20) proceedings.
Wan Azwan said that Chia was initially a prosecution witness but he was never called to the stand.
After the end of the prosecution's trial, Chia was offered as a witness to the defence.
Presiding judge Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah then asked the defence what would the next action be if the witness remained unreachable.
Wan Azwan said that the defence would proceed with other witnesses.
"But as far as Chia is concerned, it is incumbent for the prosecution to seek the best endeavour to have him available to us for us to examine him," Wan Azwan said.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar concurred that Chia was an offered witness by the prosecution.
"We will try our best to assist in locating him," the prosecutor said.
Wan Azwan then asked for the court to adjourn its proceedings till Friday morning (Feb 21) as the defence had no other witnesses to call for the day.
The court then adjourned the proceedings.
On Oct 30, last year, Najib was ordered by the High Court to enter his defence on four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28bil gratification from 1MDB's funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
