Power abuse charges do not state Najib's alleged interest - Shafee

1MDB TRIAL | The four abuse of power charges in the 1MDB case are defective as they do not state what ex-premier Najib Abdul Razak’s alleged interest in the case was, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard.

Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told the court today that Najib is unable to mount a proper defence as a result.

He argued that the four power abuse charges do not mention what the alleged interests linked to Najib’s previous role are - not only as premier but also as finance minister and chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers.

“Prosecution has not focused their attack on the charges against the accused.

“If they cannot focus, we cannot focus our cross-examination (against the prosecution’s 50 witnesses),” Shafee told trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

The court set today for oral submission in the criminal case against Najib over four abuse of power charges and 21 money laundering counts involving RM2.27 billion of 1MDB’s funds.

Shafee (above) then took aim at one of the power abuse charges, involving alleged receiving of RM90.8 million gratification between Oct 31 and Nov 20, 2012.

The charge claimed that among the actions Najib took was approving 1MDB’s acquisition of independent power producers (IPP) Tanjong Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd and Mastika Lagenda Sdn Bhd.

The lawyer contended the criminal charge did not state whether Najib had any alleged interest in the two IPPs.

Shafee added that the charges are flawed as they do not distinguish between Najib’s various past roles and how the accused allegedly abused power in each role.

“This is an overkill that destroyed the case, like using a sledgehammer to kill a fly,” the counsel contended.

The hearing resumes tomorrow.

The charges

For the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP allegedly committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.

On the 21 money laundering counts, Najib purportedly committed the offences at the same bank between March 22 and Aug 30, 2013.

Minister of Finance (Incorporated) fully owns 1MDB where Najib was chairperson of the board of advisers.

The accused was first charged on Sept 20, 2018, and his criminal trial began on Aug 28, 2019.

On May 30 this year, the prosecution closed its case, six years after the former prime minister was first charged in late 2018.

Fifty witnesses took the stand for the prosecution, including 1MDB’s former general counsel Jasmine Loo.

Loo was allegedly part of the inner circle of 1MDB-linked fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low).

Prosecutors claimed that Najib received RM2.27 billion misappropriated from the troubled sovereign wealth fund between 2011 and 2014.

However, Najib’s defence team contended that the former premier had no knowledge of any wrongdoing at 1MDB and that any wrongdoing that may have happened was solely masterminded by Low and members of the fund’s management.

The former finance minister also previously contended that the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia promised the accused financial donation for political purposes.

Kamal Baharin Omar prosecuted.

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