Najib: My stepson's hit films were made with 'clean money'

Summary

• Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak rubbishes the prosecution’s claim that his stepson and Hollywood filmmaker Riza Aziz made movies with funds from unlawful sources.

• Najib explains that Riza financed his films with loans and paid them back.

• He says Riza would not have accepted the money if he thought it was unlawful.

1MDB TRIAL | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak contended that his step son Riza Aziz made Hollywood blockbusters with “clean money”, not with unlawful funds as claimed by the prosecution.

During the RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering trial against him, Najib denied prosecutors’ claim that he tried to get the help of a United Arab Emirates (UAE) royalty to come up with a sham loan agreement to make the money that Riza (above) received to look legitimate.

Najib was replying during re-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, who referred to the prosecution’s past grilling that the alleged sham loan agreement was to cover up a money laundering scheme linked to Riza.

“The money transferred to him was on the basis it came from Aabar (Investments PSJ), that was what was conveyed to him, that it was a loan and he accepted it on that basis. 

“If he knew otherwise, he would not have accepted it. It is clean money from Aabar, movies were made, the movies made money, and he paid back (the loan).

“If this is an afterthought (that the prosecution claimed in relation to Najib’s explanation), that is wrong as he paid back the loan, his action showed he believed it was a loan and that it was clean money.

“My conversation with the Crown Prince was to documented it (the alleged loan), his (Riza) action paying back I can get back on the figures. He was paying back. Quite a significant amount he paid back,” Najib told trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

In the 1MDB trial, the prosecution made reference to audio recording allegedly showing Najib in conversation with the Middle Eastern royalty linked to Riza.

Previously charged in the Malaysian court with alleged money laundering of US$248 million of 1MDB funds, Riza was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) in May 2020.

Red Granite Pictures Incorporated produced the 2013 hit “The Wolf of Wall Street”, a biographical black comedy crime film about the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort, a stockbroker in New York City who engaged in rampant graft and fraud on Wall Street. Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio played the main role of Belfort.

It should be noted that Riza is currently fighting off a separate civil court action by 1MDB over a similar allegation.

Prosecution lasted 6 years

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 from 1MDB.

Sequerah ruled that the prosecution succeeded in establishing a prima facie (answerable) case against Najib due to the strength of some 50 witness testimonies.

The former prime minister was first charged in 2018 and the trial started the year after. The prosecution stage of the trial lasted six years.

Since the prima facie ruling, Najib has been testifying since Dec 2 last year to defend himself against the charges.

He was cross-examined by the prosecution for 10 days, with prosecutors having wrapped up their grilling two days ago.

Throughout the criminal trial, Najib maintained he had no knowledge or involvement in wrongdoing at 1MDB, and that all embezzlement there was solely masterminded by fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and its management.

The accused also relied on the defence that he was led to believe that the money that went into his account was a political donation from Saudi Arabia, as promised by the late monarch King Abdullah during a 2010 meeting.

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