PUTRAJAYA (Jan 15): Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that he "used" fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) despite his negative reputation for the country's benefit, the court heard on Wednesday.
The former prime minister said this in reference to Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin's visit to Beijing in 2016, where Jho Low arranged the logistics for the former special officer to Najib.
During cross-examination of Najib in the ongoing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)-Tanore trial, deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib highlighted that around the time of the trip, Jho Low was already widely associated with the misappropriation of 1MDB funds.
Akram: Jho Low was labelled as not a good person. And yet, you still used his services?
Najib: I used Jho Low for the country's benefit. I did it for the country's benefit. I wanted to generate income for Malaysia as fast as possible.
The now-imprisoned 71-year-old said that the trip was focused on getting beneficial economic opportunities for Malaysia.
When asked why not utilise the Malaysian Foreign Ministry and embassy in Beijing to make the appropriate connections, Najib said that Jho Low had a "personal relationship" with the Chinese.
Proceedings on Wednesday were focused on Amahari's 'secret mission' to China in June 2016.
Amhari, who is the prosecution's eighth witness, had testified that he was sent to Beijing to cut infrastructure deals involving rail and gas pipelines worth tens of billions of ringgit with China. He claims that his remit was to convince the Chinese to bail out 1MDB in exchange for awarding key infrastructure projects to Chinese state-owned enterprises.
Amhari, who was relatively a junior officer in the Prime Minister's Office, claimed that his visit to China’s state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission in 2016 was known only to Najib and Jho Low.
When pressed on this on Wednesday, Najib testified that the trip was merely a preliminary meeting to gauge if there was interest from the Chinese. The former finance minister defended his decision to send Amhari, instead of a more qualified officer.
The ex-PM also rubbished insinuation that the trip was focused on getting Chinese enterprises to pay off 1MDB and SRC International Sdn Bhd debts. He added that he had no personal interest linked to the trip.
In this trial, Najib faces four abuse of power and 21 money-laundering charges.
The trial before presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Thursday.