1MDB probe against Najib 'biased', 'shoddy': Lawyer

1MDB TRIAL | The investigation against Najib Abdul Razak over alleged power abuse and money laundering of RM2.27 billion of 1MDB funds was biased and shoddy, his lawyer argued.

Defence counsel Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that the ex-prime minister was charged before MACC had even completed recording his statement.

The lawyer submitted today that Najib was charged on Sept 20, 2018, when the MACC had yet to wrap up recording the accused’s statement as part of the probe.

Wan Azwan claimed that there was a predetermined intention to prosecute Najib, regardless of the outcome of the probe.

“We respectfully submit that the investigation conducted by the investigating officer (Nur Aida Ariffin) was egregious, biased, selective, shoddy and incomplete.

“This resulted in evidential gaps in the prosecution’s case and deprived the accused of his constitutionally guaranteed right to a fair investigation and fair trial, a fundamental principle enshrined within Article 5 of the Federal Constitution,” the lawyer said

Open-court proceedings before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah continue this afternoon and tomorrow.

25 charges

Najib is on trial over 25 counts encompassing abuse of power and money laundering of RM2.27 billion funds from 1MDB.

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, the 71-year-old was accused of committing the offences at the same bank between March 22 and Aug 30, 2013.

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

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

The proceedings are now in the oral submissions stage, which involves no witness testimonies, only legal teams summing up whether the oral and documentary evidence implicates or exonerates Najib.

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

Loo was allegedly part of key 1MDB figure Low Taek Jho’s (Jho Low) inner circle. Authorities are still tracking down 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.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib prosecuted.

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