Ex-PM denies telling Husni not to get involved in 1MDB

1MDB TRIAL | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has denied telling former finance minister II Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah not to get involved with 1MDB.

The former finance minister was responding to the prosecution witness' testimony in the defence stage of his RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering trial.

"Husni's claim that I instructed him not to get involved or interfere with 1MDB is completely untrue.

"At no point did I issue such instructions to Husni (above)," Najib testified today.

The former premier contended there was no documentary evidence presented to back Husni's testimony, which conveniently overlooked the latter's alleged active participation and lack of objection during cabinet meetings over 1MDB.

‘Deeply painful’ accusation

"Hearing Husni's testimony and the allegations against me has been profoundly disheartening. Husni was someone I personally selected to serve as finance minister II in April 2009, a role of immense responsibility and trust.

"During my tenure as Umno president, I also appointed him as Umno treasurer, a position that further reflected my confidence in his capabilities and integrity.

"These decisions were not made lightly, they were based on the belief that he would faithfully serve the nation and the party with loyalty and honour,” Najib told trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

He described it as “deeply painful” to have someone he entrusted with significant roles to make such accusations against him.

“It is difficult to reconcile these statements with the Husni I once placed so much trust in," Najib added.

During the 1MDB trial two years ago, Husni testified that he tried to advise Najib against setting up 1MDB without a feasibility study.

The prosecution witness claimed that the accused responded by telling him not to interfere in the sovereign wealth fund.

‘Husni upset with transfer’

During the examination in chief by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah today, Najib testified that Husni was upset with the then premier's decision to transfer the witness to another ministry.

Najib remarked that it was standard practice for a premier to transfer ministers around as part of their experience handling various portfolios.

He recalled Husni was unhappy with the decision to transfer to either an economic or housing and local government portfolio when he presented a resignation letter.

When Shafee asked whether the unhappiness could be related to Husni's son, Najib recalled that the witness' son failed in a bid for a project, possibly relating to construction.

"When you are at the apex, you get blamed for everything, sometimes the system does not allow you to accede to everyone's requests," Najib mused.

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.

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.

The prosecution contended that the wrongdoing at 1MDB was done by fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) with the blessing of Najib.

However, the accused denied involvement or any knowledge of wrongdoing, and that the embezzlement was solely masterminded by Low and other members of the fund's management.

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