KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 22): The "theory" that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho's (Jho Low) "mirror-image" and vice-versa is utter fiction that lacks evidence, the High Court heard on Thursday.
The defence in the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore trial said that the prosecution had pushed this narrative whenever it was convenient, and had attempted to hold Najib responsible for Jho Low's alleged actions.
"[…]that acts done by Jho Low are to be treated as acts commissioned by [Najib] without any actual credible proof," defence counsel Wan Azwan Aiman argued before trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
This, he added, runs against established legal principles.
"This malefic theory is a stark departure from the time-tested and accepted legal doctrines of common intention, criminal conspiracy or abetment, which entail the proving of a joint intention or preparation between individuals to commit a common crime.
"Interestingly, Najib had not been charged in this case [of] having a common intention with Jho Low for these offences," the defence counsel added.
In outlining the prosecution's case at the start of the trial, then lead prosecutor the late Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram had put forth the notion that Jho Low was Najib's mirror image.
"The prosecution will prove that the accused, by his words and conduct, made it clear to 1MDB's officers, its board and others that Jho Low was his alter ego,” Sri Ram had said.
"In truth, Jho Low was the accused's mirror image. The prosecution will establish facts which will give rise to an irresistible inference that Jho Low and the accused acted as one at all material times," the former Federal Court judge-turned-prosecutor submitted to the court back in August 2019.
The defence is submitting at the end of the prosecution's case. The prosecution will reply to the defence's arguments after wrapping its submissions.
Shahrol placed in 1MDB to 'sign, steal, deliver'
Earlier, the defence also argued that Najib had little personal interest in the federalisation of 1MDB's predecessor, Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA). Rather, it was TIA’s then chief executive officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi who had pushed for the federalisation of what was supposed to be an investment vehicle for the state of Terengganu, but which had not taken off.
The defence raised this in part to establish that Najib had no vested personal interest in the federalisation of the investment fund, and hence it is an example of how he did not misuse his position in relation to the first abuse of power charge he faces in this trial.
Elaborating further during Thursday's afternoon proceedings, Wan Azwan argued that Shahrol was serving Jho Low's interests, and the defence would demonstrate further, at a later date, how Shahrol transferred monies to Jho Low and his proxies.
"Shahrol was placed in 1MDB by Jho Low to do one simple thing — to sign, steal and deliver," he said in a play on the title of Stevie Wonder's classic song, Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
The defence also told the court not to trust Shahrol's testimony, but to look at his actions and conduct, as documented in the evidence.
The defence is currently still in the midst of submitting on the first abuse of power charge Najib faces.
In this trial, Najib faces four counts of abuse of power for using his position as the then prime minister, finance minister and chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisers to receive gratifications worth US$620 million (RM2.27 billion). He also faces 21 money-laundering charges.
The prosecution contends that Najib used his position as the then prime minister and finance minister to do certain acts, and to exert influence over the board of 1MDB to carry out certain abnormal transactions with "undue haste" for his own gratification.
The trial continues on Sept 2.