KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 -- Tan Sri Ali Hamsa said in court that he had highlighted topics for the auditor-general to consider removing or amending in the latter's 2016 audit report on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) based on "talking points" he said were from the Prime Minister's Office.

Ali, who was the chief secretary to the government in February 2016, was testifying as the fourth prosecution witness in the joint trial of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy over the alleged tampering of the audit report on 1MDB.

Today, under cross-examination by Arul Kanda's lawyer Datuk N. Sivananthan, Ali confirmed he never read the 1MDB audit report before he chaired a February 24, 2016 meeting....