1MDB: CSR cheques not for my personal benefit, Najib says

Summary

• Najib Abdul Razak denies his cheques issued for CSR purposes were meant to benefit him personally.

• Ex-premier rubbishes prosecution contention that funds he used for CSR were from 1MDB.

1MDB TRIAL | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak denied today that the millions of ringgit in cheques he issued for corporate social responsibility (CSR) were meant to boost his image or for any personal benefit.

The former finance minister also refuted the prosecution’s contention that the millions of ringgit in cheques or bank transfers comprising the 21 money laundering charges against him were linked to unlawful activities.

Najib was countering deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar's cross-examination over the accused’s RM246,000 cheque to one Lim Soon Peng to manage the Ah Jib Gor Facebook, which was written in Chinese and meant to communicate government policies to the community.

Najib: It was related to me (as then prime minister) to communicate government policy (to the ethnic Chinese community). It was my job.

Kamal: I say that if it was really in your capacity as then prime minister, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) communication unit could have handled that.

Najib: Yes, but this was social media, which was outside the government’s scope.

Kamal: PMO could still have handled that.

Najib: We need various platforms.

Kamal: It was done in your personal capacity.

Najib: It was my official duty as prime minister to communicate to the people.

Kamal: For whatever purpose, the money to Lim Soon Peng is still unlawful funds.

Najib: I disagree.

Communication obstacles

Najib explained that there were some obstacles in terms of communication from the government as there were many groups in society that found it hard to accept communication from government sources.

The former premier also rubbished the deputy public prosecutor’s contention that his cheques of RM2 million and RM303,000 to press relation firm ORB Solutions Sdn Bhd and speech writing firm Semarak Konsortium Satu Sdn Bhd respectively, were for the accused’s personal benefit.

“It (ORB Solutions) is an additional platform as the mainstream media do not cover every level of society who could accept the messaging and narrative of the government,” Najib told the High Court in Putrajaya today.

During the RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering trial against him, Najib explained that it was not enough for him to rely on PMO to reach out to the people.

In relation to Semarak Konsortium, he explained that the firm helped him write speeches in English for international forums.

Kamal: You could have gotten people at PMO to do that.

Najib: The proficiency is not as high.

Kamal: This involves your personal duties.

Najib: Yes, but I require the highest English proficiency.

Kamal: Civil servants are not proficient in English?

Najib: It was hard to find at the time.

Kamal: This (payment to Semarak Konsortium) is for your personal benefit.

Najib: It has to do with my official duty as prime minister, not personal interest.

Najib also batted off as untrue the prosecution's contentions on several other cheques that the funds therein originated from unlawful activities or that the money was issued for his own personal benefit.

Among them are an RM20 million cheque to Umno and an RM100,000 cheque to Batu Kawan Umno Division.

However, Najib conceded during Kamal's questioning that ORB Solutions was a company whose director was his then special officer Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, who also happened to be one of the prosecution's witnesses against the accused.

When grilled by Kamal over why he empowered former SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil to confirm his bank transactions, the accused said it was because he was saddled with running the country and not enough time to check the status of his bank account.

Kamal: You still have the responsibility to check.

Najib: Yes if there was a need, but I was too busy administering the country.

Najib also rubbished the prosecutor's contention that the ex-premier knowingly or had reasons to believe that he received proceeds of unlawful activities in his bank account.

The authorities are still trying to track down Nik Faisal's whereabouts to assist the investigation into the 1MDB affair.

The trial resumes tomorrow morning

Six years and going

On Oct 30 last year, Najib was ordered to defend himself against four abuses of power and 21 money laundering charges involving RM2.27 billion 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.

Since the prima facie ruling, Najib has been testifying in his defence against the 1MDB criminal charges.

The accused maintained that he had no knowledge of wrongdoing at 1MDB and that Low and management members masterminded the embezzlement at the fund.

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