KUALA LUMPUR, April 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Malaysia’s disgraced ex-leader
Najib Razak pleaded not guilty to all charges against him as he went on trial
Wednesday over a multi-billion-dollar fraud, almost a year after his shock
election loss.
The 65-year-old faced the first of several trials over his alleged
involvement in the looting of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a state investment
vehicle established to develop the economy of the Southeast Asian nation.
The former premier and his cronies are accused of plundering billions of
dollars from the fund and spending it on everything from high-end real estate
to artworks and a luxury yacht.
He had been tipped to win another term in office easily last year and
extend his coalition’s six-decade stranglehold on power, only to be soundly
defeated by his former boss, Mahathir Mohamad, who rode a wave of public
anger over 1MDB to the premiership.
In the months that followed, once-dormant investigations into the
controversy were relaunched and Najib was hit with dozens of corruption
charges linked to the plundering of the fund.
A small crowd of supporters was waiting for Najib as he arrived at the
Kuala Lumpur court ahead of his trial, and he prayed with them for a few
minutes before entering the building to shouts of “Long Live Najib”.
Looking relaxed in the dock, he denied seven corruption and money-
laundering charges related to the alleged theft of 42 million ringgit ($10.3
million) from SRC International, a former 1MDB unit. It is just a fraction of
the hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB that allegedly ended up in his
bank accounts.
Opening the prosecution, Attorney-General Tommy Thomas told the High Court
that it was the “first trial in our courts against a former prime minister,
who for nearly a decade occupied the most powerful office in the land and
wielded near absolute power.
“Such privilege carries with it enormous responsibility.
“The accused is not above the law and his prosecution and this trial
should serve as precedents for all future holders of this august office,” he
added.
– Time to ‘face justice’ –
The first witness — Muhamad Akmaludin Abdullah, an official from the
Companies Commission of Malaysia — took the stand, and talked about records
of the firms linked to the trial.
Najib was initially due to stand trial in February, but appeals by his
defence team over procedural matters saw his case put on hold until a judge
last week ruled the trial should finally proceed.
It was a relief for the government, as there had been mounting public anger
about the delay in bringing Najib to justice.
Fahmi Reza, a graphic artist who was jailed and fined for depicting Najib
in a caricature as a sinister clown, said it was the ex-premier’s turn to
“face justice”.
“Today, it is your turn to be dragged here to face justice for the crime
of corruption and abuse of power during your reign,” he said in a tweet.
Najib’s mentor-turned-nemesis Mahathir, now 93 and in his second stint in
office, has pledged to bring the younger man to justice and recoup the huge
sums of cash stolen from 1MDB.
The US Department of Justice, which is investigating the controversy as
money was allegedly laundered through the American financial system, believes
$4.5 billion in total was looted from 1MDB.
Malaysia has also charged Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs over the scandal,
alleging the bank and its former employees stole billions of dollars from
1MDB.
Goldman units and two ex-bankers are accused of misappropriating $2.7
billion, bribing officials and giving false statements in relation to bond
issues they arranged for the fund. The bank has vowed to fight the charges.
While many of Najib’s suspected accomplices have been caught and charged in
Malaysian courts, the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, playboy
financier Jho Low, is still at large.
On Wednesday the Malaysian government said a luxury yacht allegedly bought
by Low with $250 million of stolen 1MDB money had been sold for around half
that price. The yacht was returned to Malaysia after being seized last year
in Indonesia.