1MDB trial: Ex-Malaysia PM Najib says he met Jho Low, Saudi royal ...
Updated
Dec 04, 2024, 03:43 PM
Published
Dec 04, 2024, 11:20 AM
KUALA LUMPUR - It was absurd to suggest that family and friends would be present during a meeting to plot siphoning billions from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), former prime minister Najib Razak told Malaysia’s High Court on Dec 3.
Najib said the meeting between him, two Saudi nationals and fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, known as Jho Low, was an informal afternoon tea on board a yacht at the invitation of the Saudi royal, Prince Turki.
Najib said he was with his wife Rosmah Mansor, his children Nor Ashman Razak and Nooryana Najwa, and stepson Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz on a private family vacation in southern France in 2009.
“Apart from my family, my friend Tan Sri Bustari Yusuf and his children also joined us,” he said in his witness statement on Dec 3.
“You can immediately visualise from my group membership that it was meant to be a private holiday, to begin with.”
Najib, under an examination-in-chief by his lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, said he was surprised when he received the invitation from Prince Turki for him and his family to join high tea on board the RM Elegance yacht.
“Prince Turki was the favourite son of King Abdullah, the reigning King of Saudi Arabia at the time. I graciously accepted the invitation,” he said.
“When we boarded the yacht, we were greeted by Prince Turki and a gentleman who introduced himself as Tarek Obaid (Petrosaudi International’s chief executive officer) and upon entering the living room, Jho Low was there.”
Najib, however, said it was not surprising for him to see Low as he was known for his well-established connections with Middle Eastern royalty.
“The meeting I had with Prince Turki, Tarek Obaid and Low during the afternoon tea was informal and nothing like what was suggested,” he added.
“It was, in fact, the first time I met both Prince Turki and Tarek Obaid. The idea that we could have been discussing some sinister plan is not only ridiculous but entirely unfounded.”
Had there been a hidden agenda or nefarious intent, Najib said, he would not have allowed photographs to be taken showing them together.
“The suggestion that we were plotting anything underhanded while my family and friends were present is absurd and unnatural,” he said.
He said it was misleading and unfair for individuals who were not part of the meeting to speculate and draw adverse inferences to serve the prosecution’s narrative against him.
Najib also told the High Court that it should have been somebody else in the dock, instead of him taking the fall for the 1MDB scandal.
He pointed at former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, whom he claimed had been in cahoots with Low and is responsible for the losses suffered by the company.
“Isn’t he lucky that I am the accused person? Because if I were not the former prime minister and finance minister, I truly believe the stand he would be occupying wouldn’t be the witness stand but the dock,” Najib said in his 525-page witness statement on Dec 4.
Mr Shahrol, a prosecution witness, had testified that he executed action plans by Low, thinking that the instructions came with the approval and blessings of Najib.
He was the CEO when 1MDB made a US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) investment in a joint venture with PetroSaudi International.
The court was told that the money was diverted into two different shell companies belonging to Low and one of his associates.
“As for Datuk Shahrol’s convenient excuse that he facilitated the remittance of the US$1 billion because he allegedly believed the instructions originated from me, one might almost admire the audacity of such a claim if it weren’t so obviously absurd as it not only contradicts the contemporaneous documented evidence,” Najib said.
“But then again, when it comes to me, such evidence seems to conveniently be wilfully ignored.”
He added that Mr Shahrol’s “implausible” explanation on the remittance of the US$1 billion only served a politically motivated agenda against him.
Najib said holding Mr Shahrol accountable for the remittance would have exposed the fragility of his narrative and damaged his credibility.
“Instead, he is allowed to hide behind such excuses, essentially getting off scot-free for the US$1 billion loss, just so he can be portrayed as a flawless, perfectly credible witness, perhaps even the gold standard of exemplary witnesses in abuse of power cases against politicians like me,” Najib added.
Najib is facing four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28 billion (S$685 million) gratification from 1MDB’s funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
The charges were framed under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009.
If convicted at the end of the defence case, Najib faces imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.
The hearing continues on Dec 4 before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
