Former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has filed a fresh affidavit to support his application for bank documents related to his ongoing 1MDB trial.
Based on the affidavit that was submitted by his legal team to the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday, Najib is asserting that there is new evidence that can back his defence, and his lawyers are trying to get their hands on the documents and information, many of which are overseas.
These include court documents from a criminal trial in the US against fugitive Low Taek Jho and former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng; and the transcripts or forensic report from the phones of Tim Leissner, who is a former Goldman Sachs partner in Asia.
Najib is also seeking to get a confidential agreement signed between the government of Malaysia and Goldman Sachs, where they agreed for a settlement in Malaysia's case against Najib in exchange for its assistance to bring back assets related to 1MDB bonds, worth US$1.4 billion.
"I verily believe that the information requested is indeed relevant and material for the purposes of the 1MDB trial and my defence, inter alia, for the following reasons:
"For the ongoing 1MDB trial, I have been charged with four charges under Section 23 of the MACC Act 2009 and 21 charges under Section 4 (1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 concerning the alleged misappropriation of 1MDB's funds.
"The information requested is vital and relevant to all the charges proffered against me and are fundamental to my defence for the 1MDB trial," Najib said in the affidavit.
However, according to Najib, the US government has filed a motion to intervene in his application to get the documents from the court there, despite a judge having allowed him to subpoena for the materials.
A date has yet to be fixed for a hearing in the US court over the matter.
On the agreement between the Malaysian government and Goldman Sachs, Najib said that its disclosure is crucial to his defence and right to a fair trial.
"I understand from news articles that the Goldman Sachs settlement agreement contains a confidentiality clause which prohibits both parties from disclosing the terms of the agreement; however, my constitutional right to a fair trial prevails over the confidentiality clause in the agreement.
"In any case, I plead that such confidentiality agreement is illegal and against public policy in a matter as hugely described as a public interest case and to adopt the wise remark that secrecy broods corruption and it is anathema to the open court justice," he said in the affidavit.
Najib is facing charges at the Kuala Lumpur High Court for corruption and money laundering involving RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds.
On March 24, Najib’s legal team filed the discovery application.
The bank documents sought are related to allegations which first surfaced last year that former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Abdul Aziz’s family received monies from 1MDB-linked fugitive Low Taek Jho. She denied the allegations. - Mkini
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