A Kuwaiti court case did not hear Najib Abdul Razak’s side of the story over an allegation that he signed off on the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project with China in 2016 at inflated prices in return for Beijing to help pay off 1MDB’s huge debts, contended the former prime minister’s defence lawyer.
Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee told Malaysiakini that the former finance minister was not part of the Middle-Eastern nation’s court proceedings that saw the conviction in absentia and sentencing of fugitive businessperson, Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), and thus was unable to rebut the claim.
“I cannot comment on the merits of the allegation as the (RM2.28 billion) 1MDB (corruption) case (against Najib) in Malaysia is still ongoing.
“However, it is important to note that Najib (above) was not a party to the proceedings in Kuwait so the allegations against him remain unchallenged and he does not have the benefit of his explanation or defence,” Farhan said.
The defence counsel was responding to a report published by The Edge two days ago (May 15) that cited court documents linked to the Kuwaiti court case.
The business news portal cited court papers that claimed Najib signed the ECRL and other mega infrastructure contracts with China for the alleged pay-off of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund’s massive debts, with the payments being purportedly routed through multiple Kuwaiti individuals’ bank accounts to hide the transactions’ purpose.
The news website also reported the court documents alleging that Najib set up compliant special-purpose vehicles to handle the projects.
It was done to sidestep an objection by the then Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) - which had since been replaced by the Land Public Transport Agency (APAD) - and other state-owned agencies over the awarding of the project without open tender.
The court documents are linked to the Kuwaiti court decision on March 28 that convicted Low in absentia and sentenced him to 10 years in jail for money laundering charges in relation to the 1MDB scandal.
Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas reported that besides Low, a sheikh, his partner, and two foreigners have been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, while a lawyer was sentenced to seven years on money laundering charges involving a Malaysian fund.
They were also ordered to return US$1 billion (RM4.4 billion) in addition to paying fines totalling KD145 million (RM2 billion).
The newspaper neither named the sheikh, his partner, nor the lawyer, and only mentioned it as a “Malaysian fund”, saying it was the largest money laundering case.
However, it did identify the foreigners as Low and the Syrian-French businessperson, Bachar Kiwan.
Alleged lack of cooperation
The whistleblower site Sarawak Report, meanwhile, said the Malaysian fund in question was 1MDB.
It also identified the sheikh as Sheikh Sabah Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, who is the son of a former Kuwaiti prime minister. His partner was identified as Low’s associate Hamad Al Wazan, and the lawyer as Saud Abdelmohsan.
According to Al-Qabas, the five were accused of laundering Chinese currency equivalent to KD343,700,000 (RM4.95 billion) knowing they were illegal proceeds embezzled from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.
Al-Qabas also reported that the case had been on hold for two years before being reopened because prosecutors faced hurdles in obtaining information from abroad.
The report did not describe the nature of those difficulties or who was involved, but Sarawak Report said it points to a lack of cooperation from Malaysia.
In 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that Malaysian investigators had uncovered a money trail from China to a Chinese bank in Kuwait and onward to a Cayman Islands entity controlled by Low, which was used to pay nearly US$1 billion for Low-controlled assets in Malaysia to pay some 1MDB debts.
The transactions were conducted in Chinese yuan, reportedly to evade scrutiny from US authorities who were already investigating his activities.
Low had denied wrongdoing but thus far has not commented on the WSJ report.
Last year, the Kuwait-born Bachar told Malaysiakini he had offered to assist the MACC in its investigations, but the latter was dragging its feet.
Low had allegedly used Bachar’s company Al Waseet to launder money. Bachar said when he refused to comply, Kuwaiti officials persecuted him, his family and partners, forcing him to flee the country to France.
He said he believes that the funds were commissions Low received from a Chinese firm engaged in big infrastructure projects in Malaysia.
On April 1, when speaking to Malaysiakini, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki denied claims that the agency had been uncooperative with Kuwaiti authorities in the 1MDB matter there, contending that ongoing cooperation since 2020 had helped the Middle-Eastern nation secure the conviction against Low.
Najib is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence at Kajang Prison in relation to an RM42 million corruption case linked to SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB that later became fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).
The former Pekan MP is also facing an ongoing criminal trial over an RM2.28 billion graft case involving funds from 1MDB, which is also fully owned by MOF Inc. - Mkini
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