KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 13): Datuk Seri Najib Razak has questioned the current government's efforts in its bid to locate fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low).
Testifying in his defence in the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore trial, the former prime minister said that the government and its agencies have had six years’ worth of evidence presented in court against Jho Low, but there seemed to be inertia regarding bringing him to justice.
“Knowing what they know now, after six years of hearing of Jho Low’s connivance and orchestration recorded in this trial, what have they done to bring Jho Low to account, or to recover the billions of dollars that he plundered from 1MDB?
“What was their attempt to locate Jho Low, and when was this attempt last made? When was the last time the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) or the police sent out an Interpol Red Notice on Jho Low — if at all it was issued?” said Najib.
The prosecution in this 1MDB trial have argued that Jho Low — the fugitive in his early 40s who is still at large — is Najib’s “mirror image” (alter ego) in carrying out the multi-billion-dollar scandal.
Najib has consistently denied this claim, arguing that Jho Low had exploited his trust and colluded with 1MDB’s management to orchestrate the scam.
The ex-prime minister also highlighted that none of the 50 prosecution witnesses in this trial had testified that Najib had prevented investigations involving Jho Low, when Najib was still in power.
Najib said he couldn’t take action easily, as 1MDB was a delicate matter involving foreign governments.
On the stand on Friday, Najib testified that he did not ignore allegations of wrongdoings in 1MDB, because the authorities had started investigations into it in 2014, while he was still prime minister.
“By 2015, they had raided 1MDB’s offices, and I was informed that the MACC had recorded Jho Low’s statement. Furthermore, I directed the Cabinet to mandate the auditor general to look into and review 1MDB’s accounts,” Najib said.
He added that there were additional factors he had to consider as then prime minister, before taking further action with regard to the state strategic development firm.
“[There are] responsibilities and considerations required of a prime minister managing complex domestic and international relationships, while ensuring thorough investigations. A layman’s consideration is a diffracted view, because it was viewed on an entirely different prism from that of a prime minister,” Najib said.
In his decision to call for the defence, trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah had said that former second finance minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah and The Edge Media Group chairman Tan Sri Tong Kooi Ong had given evidence in court that they had raised with Najib their concerns over 1MDB and Jho Low’s involvement. But these warnings were not heeded.
On Friday, Najib also testified that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) should have reached out to him, instead of initiating the 2016 civil action suit to recover 1MDB monies.
“[The suit was] unprecedented in the sense that the DOJ never takes action against a sitting [head] of government. They should have engaged with me, and I could have responded to them,” he said.
He alleged that “the civil action gave the impression that the allegations were established facts creating a false negative that prejudiced public opinion and caused premature judgment of my culpability”.
Najib went on to allege that the DOJ's political conspiracy against him was similar to investigations that supposedly targeted individuals close to Donald Trump in the investigation on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential elections. Najib accused the DOJ of using the same aggressive, politically charged tactics against him.
In this trial, Najib is facing four abuse of power charges, and 21 money-laundering charges.
The trial will continue on Jan 6 next year, following the courts’ year-end break. Najib is then expected to continue with his defence.