1MDB not for my or Umno's benefit, says Najib

1MDB TRIAL | Najib Abdul Razak refuted former 1MDB CEO Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman's testimony today that the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund was established to funnel money to Umno-linked firms.

"I strongly disagree with the assertion (by Hazem). 1MDB or its project ventures were neither for my benefit nor Umno’s,” the former prime minister testified during the RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering trial against him before the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

"The approvals given to the company were pursuant to the proposals made by the company itself after a thorough deliberation at the board level on proposals brought to them by legitimate entities,” he added.

The entities included Aabar Investments PJS and International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) upon the advice of advisors of such calibre as (United States-based investment bank) Goldman Sachs, (financial adviser) Lazard, (Swiss-based) BSI Bank and the (London-based adviser group) Baker & McKenzie group.

"The problem with 1MDB is the systemic failure in the execution of the decisions at the management level which started from its time under the management of (then-CEO) Shahrol (Azral Ibrahim Halmi) up until Hazem.

"I recall Hazem's testimony in court where he admitted to being placed in the management to carry out (fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho) Jho Low's instruction.

"He even admitted specifically that in regards to the US$3 billion raised for 1MDB Global Investment Limited, he was placed there as a director just to sign every document upon the instruction of Jho Low and his proxies (1MDB's then-general counsel) Jasmine Loo, and (1MDB's then-finance executive director) Terence Geh," said Najib.

Najib contended he had neither knowledge of nor involvement in wrongdoing at 1MDB, and that Low and members of the fund’s management solely masterminded all embezzlement there.

However, prosecutors claimed that Low's actions at 1MDB were done with Najib’s blessing.

Power abuse, money laundering charges

On Oct 30, the criminal 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.

Trial 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.

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