MURDERS SHOCKER: NAJIB'S TRAIL OF DEATHS - 'WE CAN'T RELY ON MALAYSIAN JUSTICE SYSTEM ANYMORE'

A trail of deaths claimed to be linked to controversies swirling around Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak and his government has returned to the spotlight thanks to two legal cases brought by relatives of the deceased.

The body count, including one corpse found encased in cement, is part of what some see as the deadly side of corruption cases in Malaysia, the latest of which is the alleged looting of billions of dollars from the 1MDB investment fund and other state companies. Mr Najib and 1MDB deny any wrongdoing over $680m that landed in his personal bank accounts from a mysterious foreign source.

Efforts to probe allegations of Malaysian state­connected graft and other serious crimes have been hampered over the years by the sudden demises of high­ profile potential witnesses and others.

Both some relatives of the deceased and critics of the government say the facts around the grisly events, which include at least three murders, have never been fully established — nor properly investigated.

“We can’t rely on the Malaysian justice system any longer,” said Pascal Najadi, a Moscow­ based consultant who wants to build international pressure on the Malaysian probe into the shooting of his banker father, Hussain. “For our family this is the best therapy, because it’s about justice.”

Relatives of Balasubramaniam Perumal, a late Malaysian private investigator, are bringing a separate civil claim in which they allege they were forced out of the country after he made a statement linking Mr Najib to a young Mongolian woman who was murdered. Mr Najib denies any such link.

The Balasubramaniam case is due for a hearing at the Federal Court of Malaysia — the highest in the country — later this month.

Speculation continues to swirl around the demise of Kevin Morais, a state prosecutor and former Malaysian Anti­Corruption Commission official, who was killed in September while — it is claimed — working on the 1MDB case. Seven people have been charged over his murder, after his body was found encased in cement in an oil drum. Authorities have denied he was involved in any 1MDB probe.

Another deadly past political controversy around Mr Najib that has resurfaced lately is the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, a young Mongolian woman whose body was blown apart with high explosives. Activists allege a link between her 2006 killing and a 2002 contract to buy two French submarines, when Mr Najib was defence minister.

Ms Altantuya was in a relationship with Abdul Razak Baginda, a defence analyst working as a consultant on the deal. He has always denied involvement in her killing and was acquitted at a 2008 trial. A government spokesman has said Mr Najib never met Ms Altantuya and was not involved in her murder.

Mr Balasubramaniam, the private investigator, claimed in a formal 2008 legal declaration that Mr Najib did know Ms Altantuya — indeed, that he had introduced her to Mr Baginda. The investigator, who had been hired by Mr Baginda to provide him with security, withdrew the allegation within days — only to claim later in a video interview with his lawyer that he rescinded it under duress.

Mr Balasubramaniam died of a heart attack in 2013 at the age of 53. But his family are taking their case to Malaysia’s top court, against a businessman they say was involved in forcing the private investigator to retract his original statement.

Pascal Najadi is taking the international legal route, in a case to the UN Human Rights Council. He claims his father was shot dead in Kuala Lumpur in July 2013 because he had information about wrongdoing related to 1MDB, gleaned from his position as founder of AmBank.

The bank is significant because of media claims that more than $680m linked to 1MDB and SRC International, another state company, was sent to Mr Najib’s accounts there. The premier has denied any wrongdoing. AmBank declined to comment.

A hit­man was convicted of shooting Hussain Najadi and sentenced to death in 2014.

But Pascal Najadi is unhappy that a suspected mastermind of the plot was quietly arrested and released without charge late last year. A Malaysian government spokesman declined to comment. -  FT.com