Boxing Day KO for Bossku; floored by further 15 years behind bars, landmark RM11.38b fine

 

THE writing was already on the wall so much so that any bookmaker would lower the odds considerably for a guilty verdict the moment the High Court depicted former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak as “no country bumpkin”.

In fact, Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah went on to contend that the 10-term Pekan MP possessed superior intelligence, an impeccable family and political pedigree with extensive experience in both regional and national administration, hence any attempt to portray the latter as ignorant of wrongdoing would “fail miserably”.

Such judgement by the Federal Court judge who previously presided over the 1MDB-Tanore trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court before proceeding was adjourned for lunch break/Friday prayers yesterday (Dec 26) eventually led to Bossku’s conviction at the end of the 12-hour stretch decision hearing.

One Bossku supporter in a familiar T-shirt (Image credit: Malay Mail)

More Bossku supporters longing for his release (Image credit: Astro Awani)

Guilty as charged, Bossku was sentenced to 15 years for each of his four counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT) and five years each for the 21 money laundering cases in the 1MDB-Tanore trial which came to close after seven years.

Humbly speaking, the 10-term former Pekan MP should count his lucky star for Justice Sequerah has ordered the jail terms to run concurrently even if they would only commence after August 2028 following the expiration of his SRC International Sdn Bhd prison sentence

Fifteen years may be a long time yet it is a sheer 9.1% of Bossku’s supposedly total jail term of 165 years if each offence is punished separately.

At any rate, adding the 15 years to that of Bossku’s earlier ‘discounted’ RM42 mil embezzlement case, his prison sentences will tentatively end in 2043 by which he would have turned 90 subject to further ‘discounts’ after having served half of his 1MDB scandal case, good behaviour or royal pardon.

Barring the whopping fine of “RM11,387,888,067.05” which – like a colleague pointed out – “5 sen pun mahu berkira” (literally, “5 sen also you want to count”), in lieu of draining the coffers of Malaysian taxpayers, Bossku may be further subject to a 10-year jail term for failure to pay up each of his four CBT fines.

Light-hearted side

Unlike Bossku’s failed bid to convert the balance of his Kajang Prison stay to house arrest which previously triggered heated exchanges between ‘people’s champion’ DAP and its Madani ally UMNO on cyberspace, yesterday’s (Dec 26) verdict was very much a subdued affair which makes one wonders if a gag order has been issued.

Interestingly, former de-facto law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim who is also an Opposition-slant UMNO member did credit Judge Justice Sequerah “for a fine job in finding the guilty verdict”.

“But as an ordinary UMNO member, I must say I’m disappointed with leaders like Azalina (Law and Institutional Reform Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said) and Zahid Hamidi (UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi),” penned Zaid who previously acted as Bossku’s defence counsel for a short spell.

“They were the ones who told us that the donations from the Saudis were genuine. Zahid even did a media statement about his meeting with key members of the Saudi family to clarify that the money given to Najib was theirs.

“But Justice Colin demolished all that. So Najib stays in Kajang for a long time for telling a lie while Zahid and Azalina remain as Ministers for the same thing. [sic].”

With regard to the man-on-the street reactions, one was striking with a techie football fan confirming the signing of a “multi-year deal between Bossku and the “Kajang FC”.

“Details of the deal has yet to be known but Jibby will remain a Kajang FC player for a long time,” penned Ian Wong  (@ianwkj) on X.

“He’ll continue to wear the No.1 jersey for the remainder of his time there. Fans are overjoyed to find out that he has decided to stay.”

In essence, Malaysians shall await if the country’s sixth premier (2009-2018) who is likened to “a PHOENIX” by a loyalist in the Bossku fan club would rise again “because PHOENIX ALWAYS RISES!”.

The comment was in reaction to a Bossku social media post pleading to citizens to remain calm, rational and cordial over his verdict instead of being provocative to each other due to opinion differences. 

 - Focus Malaysia