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This kleptocrat is now serving a 12-year jail sentence (discounted to six years) and now has to defend himself against 25 charges involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds. - Facebook image
Court orders Najib ‘1MDB’ Razak to enter his defence on 25 charges involving RM2.28b in 1MDB funds
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30, 2024: The High Court here today ordered disgraced and shameless former prime minister Najib “1MDB” Razak to enter his defence on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving RM2.28 billion in 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Najib, a former Umno president whom the party is rooting for his freedom.
The order is a relief to Malaysians as it shows justice is still prevailing in Malaysia and that the international kleptocrat is facing the full brunt of the law.
No News Is Bad News reproduces below a news report on the court proceedings:
Court orders Najib to enter defence in 1MDB case
-30 Oct 2024, 10:52 AM
The Kuala Lumpur High Court rules that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against former prime minister Najib Razak.
Najib Razak is standing trial on 25 counts of abuse of power and money laundering involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds.
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has ordered former prime minister Najib Razak to enter his defence on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving 1MDB funds.
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against Najib.
“After a maximum evaluation of the evidence, I find that the prosecution has proven the ingredients of the charges,” he said.
Najib is standing trial on four counts of abuse of power and 21 money laundering charges involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
A total of 50 witnesses had testified during the prosecution’s case, which went on for 253 hearing days between Aug 28, 2019 and May 30 this year.
Notable witnesses included former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz and former 1MDB general counsel Loo Ai Swan, also known as Jasmine Loo.
Lawyer Shafee Abdullah told the court today that Najib has elected to give evidence on oath in his defence to the charges.
“He has nothing to hide” Shafee said.
Najib did not lodge any report against Jho Low after scandal broke, says judge
-30 Oct 2024, 02:12 PM
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah says Najib Razak also never raised any inquiries about the funds that entered his AmBank account.
Testimony by the investigating officer showed that Najib Razak did not file any complaint over Jho Low’s alleged role in the 1MDB scandal when it broke out, said High Court judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Najib Razak did not lodge any report against businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, over the financier’s alleged role after the 1MDB scandal broke out about a decade ago, the High Court ruled today.
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah said evidence given by the investigating officer into the 1MDB case, Nur Aida Ariffin, indicated that the authorities never received any complaints from Najib or his officers in 2015.
“Amhari (Efendi Nazaruddin) said he did not receive instructions from the accused to do so,” he said, referring to Najib’s former special officer, who testified in the 1MDB trial.
Sequerah said this in ordering Najib to defend himself on four charges of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds.
The judge noted that, after 1MDB was widely publicised in 2015, its former chairman, Bakke Salle,h and former CEO, Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, were called to testify before the Public Accounts Committee.
“Bakke said that before he was scheduled to testify, (then) PAC chairman Hassan Ariffin briefed him twice on what to say to safeguard and minimise the roles of the accused and Low (in 1MDB),” he said, adding that Shahrol was also instructed to do the same.
Sequerah cited another incident in 2013 when auditors from KPMG questioned 1MDB’s US$2.3 billion investment in Brazen Sky Ltd.
The auditors had refused to sign off on 1MDB’s 2013 financial statement because they could not verify the authenticity of the investment.
“After the matter went to the accused’s attention, a meeting was held at his home to strategise another meeting with KPMG (to be held later),” he said, adding that former 1MDB CEO Hazem Abdul Rahman testified that Low called for the meeting.
Another meeting with KPMG took place later at Najib’s house in Langgak Duta, attended by the audit firm’s senior partner, Johan Idris, among others.
Sequerah said Johan testified that he felt “intimidated” with Najib’s instruction for them to close the financial statement during the meeting.
“As a result, KPMG was terminated by the accused and Deloitte replaced them,” he said.
On Najib’s contention that he received “Arab donations”, Sequerah cited former 1MDB general counsel Loo Ai Swan’s testimony that she overheard Low instructing Kee Kok Thiam to draft the “donation letters” when they were in a London hotel.
He noted that between 2011 and 2015, Najib held accounts under Ambank.
He said Ambank bankers testified that Najib never raised any inquiries about the funds that entered his account throughout the four years.
“This raised reasonable inference that the letters were suspicious,” he said.
Court rules no merit to claims of bias, shoddy probe into Najib’s 1MDB case
-30 Oct 2024, 08:10 PM
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah says this is because the investigations commenced in 2014 when Najib Razak was still the prime minister and resumed in 2018.
Former prime minister Najib Razak was ordered today to enter his defence on four charges of using his position to obtain RM2.3 billion in gratification from 1MDB funds and 21 money laundering charges involving the same funds.
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today ruled that the defence’s claims of bias and shoddy investigations into the 1MDB case involving Najib Razak lack merit.
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah said this was because the investigations commenced in 2014, when the accused was still the prime minister, and resumed in 2018.
“With regard to the allegation that Najib was asked certain questions when his statement under Section 53(3) of the MACC Act was taken, I find that this has not caused prejudice to the accused in light of the nature of the cross-examination of the prosecution witnesses, in particular the 49th prosecution witness,” he said in his 41-page summary of the ruling.
The 49th witness was Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Nur Aida Ariffin.
Earlier, Sequerah ordered Najib, 71, to enter his defence on four charges of using his position to obtain RM2.3 billion in gratification from 1MDB funds and 21 money laundering charges involving the same funds, after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case at the end of its case.
Sequerah also dismissed the defence’s contention that the four graft charges and 21 money laundering charges were defective, duplicitous and ambiguous, and therefore bad law and in violation of Section 163 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC).
He said upon perusal and examination of all four charges, it was clear that they contained the time and place, and stated the offences for which the accused was charged.
“All the four graft charges and 21 money laundering charges therefore fulfil all the legal criteria required of a charge as provided for under sections 152, 153 and 154 of the CPC,” he said.
Sequerah said Section 422 of the CPC provided that any irregularity in charges could be cured provided the accused was not prejudiced in any manner and no failure of justice was occasioned.
“I do not find that the accused has been misled or has suffered prejudice in relation to the charges proffered.
“In any event, Section 156 of the CPC states that any errors or omissions (which I do not find to be the case here) with respect to the charge are not to be regarded as material unless the accused was in fact misled as a result, which has not been the case here,” he said.
In his judgment, Sequerah said the prosecution had successfully established that the accused was an officer of a public body in respect of all four charges of abuse of power under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act, which involves the misuse of office or position for gratification.
The judge noted that there was no serious challenge to the accused’s positions as prime minister, finance minister and chairman of the 1MDB board of advisers, and therefore the accused was an officer of a public body at the material time.
“The evidence shows that the accused took the first action, inter alia, from the evidence of Mazidah Abdul Majid, who was the deputy head secretary (Cabinet) in the prime minister’s department – which proved the accused on April 1, 2009, attended the Cabinet meeting; presented a memorandum of the finance ministry; obtained the Cabinet’s consent for the provision of a guarantee by the government to Terengganu Investment Authority Bhd (TIA) to enable TIA to obtain domestic and foreign market loans of up to RM5 billion by way of Islamic Medium-Term Notes (IMTN),” he said.
Central role in TIA takeover
Sequerah noted that the prosecution’s evidence revealed that Najib showed interest in TIA Bhd from its inception and played a central role in the government’s takeover of TIA, which was later renamed 1MDB.
He said the accused was also instrumental in leading the Cabinet to consent to the provision of a guarantee by the government to enable TIA to obtain the RM5 billion IMTN loan.
Sequerah said an examination and evaluation of the evidence revealed Najib had acted in matters where he had a vested interest.
He said the money trail report also showed that between Feb 23 and June 14, 2011, approximately US$20 million (RM60,629,839.43) of the proceeds credited into the accused’s AmIslamic Bank account from an account at Riyadh Bank, Saudi Arabia, were found to be traceable to the issuance of the IMTN bond in 2009 and the syndicated term loan in 2010.
Regarding the second charge concerning the acquisition of independent power producers (IPPs) Tanjong Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd and Mastika Lagenda Sdn Bhd, the judge said the prosecution adduced evidence to show that the accused took certain actions leading 1MDB to enter into these transactions.
He further said that the money trail traced by Bank Negara Malaysia analyst Adam Ariff Roslan showed that the funds totalling RM 90,899,927.28, which were deposited into the accused’s account, originated from the bond issuance intended for the acquisitions of Tanjong Energy’s IPP and Mastika Lagenda’s IPP.
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