Oct 30 decision if Najib needs to enter defence on RM2.27b 1MDB case

Najib Abdul Razak will know on Oct 30 whether he walks free or needs to enter his defence to 25 counts of abuse of power and money laundering involving RM2.27 billion from 1MDB.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court set the date this afternoon for a decision on whether the prosecution has proven a prima facie case against the former prime minister and finance minister.

If trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah found that the prosecution has failed to establish a case that Najib needs to answer, then the accused would walk free from the four abuse of power charges and 21 money laundering counts.

“I will deliver on Oct 30 my decision at the end of prima facie on whether to call the defence (of Najib),” Sequerah said.

25 charges

For the four abuse of power charges, the ex-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 Najib’s first court date in this case.

Between Aug 19 and today, the proceedings were in the oral submission stage, which involved no witness testimonies.

This was because it only involved legal teams summing up whether the oral and documentary evidence implicates or exonerates Najib.

Fifty witnesses took the stand for the prosecution, among them 1MDB’s former CEOs Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman, Najib’s former special officer Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, and former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.

Defence continues with ‘donation’ line

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

However, Najib’s legal team from the law firm Shafee & Co contended that he had neither knowledge nor involvement in wrongdoing, as he believed that the money was a donation from Saudi royalty.

The defence team contended that all embezzlements at the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund were perpetrated by fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and members of the fund’s management.

Besides highlighting Low and 1MDB management’s alleged culpability, the former finance minister’s legal team contended that the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had promised financial donations to the accused.

The accused is relying on four letters allegedly from Arab royalty, which stated that the donations were given, with no strings attached, in recognition of his contribution to the Islamic world.

Najib’s defence team also pointed out that while US$681 million flowed into his two AmBank accounts in 2013, around US$620 million was returned to the sender later that year.

The former 1MDB's board of advisers chairperson is serving a six-year jail sentence in a separate RM42 million SRC International corruption case.

'Most powerful, heavyweight' Najib backed ex-1MDB CEO, says DPP

Prosecutor: Jho Low everywhere, even at Najib's family holiday

'Najib's donation belief not baseless, Riyadh ministry transferred money'

Shafee: Najib spent 'donation' money for public benefit, not personal use

Rafizi accuses pro-Najib influencer of 'misleading' Malay voters

BNM, then-governor were last bastion of financial integrity: Najib's lawyer