George Soros' son part of efforts to destabilise M'sia: Najib

Summary:

• Najib testified in 1MDB trial that Alex Soros was part of a coordinated international effort to destabilise Malaysia, contributing to political instability with the media campaign surrounding 1MDB.

• Najib claimed that the media campaign and foreign influences, including the US DOJ probe, aimed to damage his reputation and led to Malaysia having four prime ministers in just four years.

• The former prime minister denied involvement in wrongdoing, attributing the embezzlement to fugitive businessperson Jho Low and 1MDB’s management, rather than himself.

1MDB TRIAL | Najib Abdul Razak testified that controversial currency speculator George Soros’ son was part of concerted overseas efforts to destabilise Malaysia, which has seen four different prime ministers since 2018.

Najib told the Kuala Lumpur High Court this afternoon about Alex Soros’ 1MDB documentary that spearheaded a misleading media campaign against him, which bolstered the politically motivated United States Justice Department (DOJ) probe into the matter.

In rebutting the RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering trial against him, Najib said these coordinated efforts, spanning from strategic funding to media manipulation, reflect a collective intent to damage his reputation and destabilise Malaysia’s political situation.

“The success of these foreign influences is evident: Malaysia had four prime ministers in just four years after 2018, an unprecedented level of political instability. 

“Before 2018, we had only six prime ministers over 61 years, a period that provided the nation with enduring stability.

“The extent and precision of these actions highlight not just a domestic but also an international agenda driven by vested interests to fuel a narrative of wrongdoing, irrespective of the facts. 

“Such coordinated campaigns reveal a broader intent to destabilise Malaysia and undermine its leadership - all under the guise of promoting democracy,” said Najib, whose BN coalition was voted out in 2018 and replaced with the Pakatan Harapan administration that lasted until 2020.

Najib was prime minister from 2009 to 2018, Dr Mahathir Mohamad had a second stint as premier from 2018 to 2020, Muhyiddin Yassin from 2020 to 2021, Ismail Sabri Yaakob from 2021 to 2022, and Anwar Ibrahim from then until today.

The accused contended that he had neither knowledge nor involvement in wrongdoing and that the embezzlement at 1MDB was solely masterminded by fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and members of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund’s management.

Manipulation

In the late 1990s during the Asian Financial Crisis which hit Malaysia hard, then-premier Mahathir accused George of manipulating the country’s ringgit, leading to a long period of the ringgit being pegged to the US dollar rather than being allowed to float. The currency was unpegged in 2005.

In 2016, DC Leaks leaked a purported document allegedly showing the currency speculator has a “personal interest” in the Malaysian election.

The supposed minutes of the international grant-making network Open Society Foundation (OSF) dated June 22, 2015, were alleged to have shown this interest of its founder George.

DC Leaks was a website that gained fame for hacking the United States Democrat National Committee email servers in 2015.

During today’s testimony, Najib made reference to the alleged document exposé, claiming it explicitly outlined a strategy to influence public opinion and destabilise the government he led and alleged the coordinated effort to manipulate domestic politics came from overseas.

Najib said this was compounded by the US DOJ’s unprecedented publicising of its 1MDB-linked forfeiture suits after the leak of the document.

“The DOJ’s actions were not only irregular but deeply troubling, particularly given its own disclaimer that ‘a civil forfeiture complaint is merely an allegation that money or property was involved in or represents the proceeds of crime.

“‘These allegations are not proven until a court awards judgment in favour of the United States.’ However, the way the DOJ publicised the civil forfeiture action gave the impression that the allegations were established facts, creating a false narrative that prejudiced public opinion and caused premature judgment of my culpability.

“Even (then US attorney-general) Loretta Lynch labelled it ‘the largest kleptocracy case to date,’ hinting at my alleged involvement without due process or evidence.”

The former Pekan MP added that it was evident that the DOJ’s behaviour becomes particularly aggressive when the individuals involved are politicians or closely linked to political figures.

Answerable case

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.

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.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib prosecuted.

Lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah appeared for Najib.

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