1MDB Trial | Najib Abdul Razak is sticking to his version of events in which he opened his Malaysian bank account in order to receive donations from the Saudi royal family.
The former prime minister’s lead defence counsel Muhammad Sahfee Abdullah said this was the accused’s instructions as the AmIslamic Bank account 694 was opened in 2011 after meeting the late Saudi monarch King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
While cross-examining 1MDB money laundering investigating officer Foo Wei Min, Shafee maintained his client’s long-standing line of defence.
The lawyer was earlier today cross-examining 48th prosecution witness Foo over whether the police officer had obtained the statement of accounts of a “Prince Faisal”, who has a bank account in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“My client instructed me that he opened the (694) account in order to receive a Saudi donation.
“This account was opened in order to receive the Saudi donation which was indicated to him when he received King Abdullah (in an earlier visit to Saudi Rabia) and he maintained that throughout,” Shafee told the Kuala Lumpur High Court today.
When Shafee grilled Foo on whether Najib had in the course of the investigation told the authorities of the Saudi donation version of events, the witness agreed the accused had done so.
Najib had similarly relied on the Saudi donation defence during his RM42 million SRC International corruption case. However, the courts found him guilty in that case and he is currently serving 12 years in jail since last year.
Defence claims lapses in probe
Meanwhile, during today’s 1MDB trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah, Foo and Shafee engaged in a war of words - this time on whether there were gaps in the authorities’ probe into Najib.
Shafee claimed there were lapses in the 1MDB money trail analysis as Foo only looked at the statement of accounts of Najib and Tanore Finance Corporation (an entity owned by Eric Tan Kim Loong, an alleged associate of fugitive businessperson and key 1MDB figure Low Taek Jho or better known as Jho Low), while not obtaining the statement of accounts of three offshore trust funds.
The offshore trust funds are Cistenique Investment Fund (CIF), Enterprise Emerging Markets Fund (EEMF), and Devonshire Funds Ltd (EEMF) were claimed by prosecutors to have been utilised as a way to obfuscate the illegal origin of the funds being embezzled from 1MDB and transferred to Najib’s accounts.
Shafee: I put to you that you did not examine in detail the statements of account, thus there are gaps in your investigation.
Foo: I disagree.
The trial before Sequerah resumes tomorrow.
Najib is facing four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.27 billion from 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc).
For the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.
On the 21 money laundering counts, the accused is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.
Prosecution is conducted by deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar. - Mkini
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