Only fools believe I'd jeopardise decades of political career, Najib tells court

1MDB TRIAL | Ex-premier Najib Abdul Razak has rebutted the prosecutors' claims that he abused power to receive nearly US$20 million gratification in 2011.

The former chairperson of 1MDB's board of advisers testified today that the allegation is baseless and absurd because the three alleged true masterminds ran off with hundreds of millions of dollars linked to 1MDB.

Najib told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that fugitive businesspersons Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and Tarek Obaid used hundreds of millions they looted to acquire multi-million dollar properties, luxury jewellery, and other extravagant items.

"Yet the prosecution alleges that I, while holding two most powerful positions in terms of being the head of the government of Malaysia and the head of the financial sector of public spending, prime minister and finance minister respectively, would jeopardise my political career and reputation, built over 40 years, to commit a criminal act for the sake of receiving US$9,999,877 on two separate occasions.

"This is a desperate claim by them that only fools would believe," Najib testified in the trial of the RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering case against him.

Absurd narrative

Najib was targeting the prosecution's claim that he directed the 1MDB board to enter a joint venture with Petrosaudi International Limited (PSI), for him to receive the gratification between Feb 24 and June 14, 2011.

Najib claimed that the prosecution's narrative was absurd as it alleged that the accused received monies from two Saudi royalty - Prince Faisal Turki Al-Saud and Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud - in return for him to commit four actions linked to abuse of power.

The accused claimed the prosecution's narrative was faulty as it was not made clear what interest these two Arab princes would have to pay the gratification to him.

"Also, the prosecution's narrative is very kind to me as it paints me as the most 'generous and self-sacrificing' purported co-conspirator in history.

"The prosecution narrative essentially alleges that I generously enabled everyone to enrich themselves with hundreds of millions while I, purportedly Jho Low's 'mirror image' and the so-called mastermind of this scheme, receive a mere fraction of the spoils years later, while on the other hand, Jho Low immediately would receive a total of US$547 million, Tarek Obaid US$120 million and Patrick Mahoney US$33 million.

"The absurdity of this claim defies all logic and common sense, the truth is clear and this is evidenced by the impartial findings of the Swiss Court which conclusively identified Obaid, Mahoney and Low as the individuals responsible for the misappropriation of funds.

Politically motivated

Dismissing the case against him as politically motivated, Najib said the main culprits orchestrated the elaborate deception without his involvement.

He added that the court did not mention him as a participant in the fraudulent transactions or as a recipient of any laundered funds.

The prosecution claimed that on-the-lam businessperson Low's actions of embezzling money out of 1MDB were with the blessing of Najib.

However, the accused contends he had no knowledge or involvement in wrongdoing at the fund, and that the entire caper was solely carried out by Low and members of its management.

Answerable case

On Oct 30, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered Najib to enter his defence over four abuse of power and 21 money laundering charges involving RM2.27 billion of funds from 1MDB.

Judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that the prosecution succeeded in establishing a prima facie (answerable) case against Najib over the Minister of Finance Incorporated’s (MOF Inc) wholly owned company.

The judge ruled that Najib had to answer the charges due to the strength of the various 50 witness testimonies during the prosecution stage of proceedings that lasted six years since the trial began in 2019. The accused was first charged in 2018.

Najib is serving a six-year jail sentence over a separate abuse of power case involving RM42 million of funds from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

He is also facing an ongoing criminal trial for the RM27 million SRC money laundering case.

Previously, Najib was acquitted in another criminal case involving 1MDB’s audit report.

He was also granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on Nov 27 in the RM6.6 billion International Petroleum Investment Company criminal breach of trust case.

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