In July 2015, Abdul Gani informed police that investigators had enough information to prepare a charge sheet against Prime Minister Najib Razak.[2] Yet Abdul Gani was later removed from his position for "health reasons" and replaced by Mohamed Apandi Ali.[3]
Background
Abdul Gani Patail graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree from the University of Malaya in 1979. He began his legal career the following year as a Deputy Public Prosecutor (the title for a prosecuting officer in Malaysia) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. In 1985, he was promoted to Senior Federal Counsel for Sabah.[4]
Gani also amongst the graduate of University Malaya alongside Sudirman Haji Arshad, Idrus Harun (Former General Solicitor, and the Former Attorney General of Malaysia), Amdan Mat Din (father of Aizat Amdan - Malaysian Singer ) in final examination of 1979/1980 academic years.
In January 1994, Abdul Gani moved to the Attorney General's Chambers in Kuala Lumpur. There he was appointed Head of the Prosecution Division (1994 and again in 2000), Head of the Advisory and International Division (1995) and Commissioner of Law Revision (1997).[4]
On 1 January 2002, he was appointed Attorney General of Malaysia.[4]
Abdul Gani's tenure as Attorney General ended in 2015 when the Chief Secretary to the Government announced he had stepped down for health reasons. The announcement was abrupt, and Patail himself was apparently unaware of the decision to have him removed from his post.[5] Prior to this, he was head of a multi-agency taskforce investigating claims of misappropriation of funds allegedly involving prime minister Najib Razak.[6]
On 2 July 2015, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Malaysian investigators have traced nearly US$700 million of deposits into what they believe are personal bank accounts of Prime Minister Najib Razak.[7]
Corruption allegations swirling around the debt-laden state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) pose the biggest threat to Najib's credibility since he took office in 2009. The prime minister chairs the state-owned firm's advisory board.
On 4 July 2015, Abdul Gani confirms he received documents from an official investigation making the link between Najib and 1MDB. The documents pave the way for possible criminal charges.[8][9]
On 27 July 2015, chief secretary to the government Ali Hamsa released a statement announcing that Abdul Gani had health problems and would be replaced by former Federal Court judge Mohamed Apandi Ali.[10] A constitutional lawyer had told Malaysiakini that Abdul Gani could institute a legal challenge on his removal after claiming he did not know he was withdrawn from leading the Attorney General Chambers, by asking the courts to interpret Article 145 (5) and (6).[11]
On 16 May 2018, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, following a meeting with Abdul Gani, revealed that the latter told him he was in the midst of preparing to charge Najib when he was removed.[12][13][14][2]
In August 2020, Ali Hamsa, who was chief secretary to the government from 2012 to 2018, testified in court that he had personally handed a termination letter to Abdul Gani in 2015, which was drafted by his assistant in Najib Razak's presence.[15]
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