PUTRAJAYA (Jan 16): Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that he was using Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) for his international connections, and denied that the now-fugitive was carrying out his bidding to misappropriate funds from troubled 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Testifying in his defence in the ongoing 1MDB-Tanore trial, Najib also said that he had confronted Jho Low following news reports on Jho Low's lavish partying and luxury purchases, but it was brushed aside.
During cross-examination on Thursday, deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam highlighted a few news articles, including about Jho Low on a yacht with hotel heiresses Paris and Nicky Hilton, and also an Edge article in 2015 on Jho Low's luxury portfolio.
Najib, 71, said that he was not aware of the news article in 2015, but there were rumours about Jho Low's purchases abroad. The now-imprisoned former finance minister said that he confronted Jho Low about his lavish lifestyle, but did not get a straight answer.
"I asked him where did you get all this? Jho Low only replied he was doing it for [Emirati prince] Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
"Yes, I confronted him. He was 'doing it for Sheikh Mansour', he repeated several times.
"I was uncomfortable over reports of his rather ostentatious lifestyle. I was uneasy with his lifestyle; it was not something I would approve of," the ex-PM said.
Sheikh Mansour is well known as the owner of the Manchester City football club. He was also the chairman of the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC).
When asked why Najib did not investigate the source of Jho Low's monies, he said that it was an issue involving a foreign government and didn't probe further.
Mustaffa: You should have investigated the source of the funds. I point out it to you that in 2015, you were shutting your eye. You didn't want to see the obvious.
Najib: No, No. I was uncomfortable [with the news reports]. That's why I confronted him.
Mustaffa: Jho Low was doing your bidding.
Najib: No, No. I only used Jho Low for his international connection to the Saudis and United Arab Emirates. I didn't want people to think that I was beholden to him, I wanted people to know I was using him. I wanted to tap into his connections.
On the stand on Thursday, the ex-PM repeated that he first met Jho Low while he was still the deputy prime minister, and that Jho Low's brother and Najib's stepson, Riza Aziz, knew each other before.
He said that Jho Low was known to his family, and didn't deny that the now-fugitive was at his offices and his private residence "from time to time".
"Yes, he came from time to time. Members of my family [knew him] because he was quite close, especially to Riza. There was nothing wrong with it. There were times he came, but not to say he was there all the time, takde la," he said.
Najib was also asked about Jho Low's presence at a meeting with Goldman Sachs personnel, including the investment bank's former chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein, in 2009.
Najib said that he didn't invite Jho Low to the meeting, nor did Jho Low participate in the New York meeting.
"I didn't invite Jho Low. He was there because a lot of people want to be seen with the PM.
"A lot of people [who came to events were] not invited by me [but] they would be there. A lot of people wanted to be seen with the PM. Even now, people love to be seen with the PM," he said.
It is the prosecution's case that Jho Low worked as Najib's mirror image in plundering the strategic development firm's monies. The defence has denied this.
Najib elusive on whether he sought Middle Eastern help for stepson Riza
During court proceedings earlier in the day, Najib skirted around questions put to him about whether he had sought Middle Eastern royalties' help for his stepson Riza — over alleged entanglement with 1MDB funds — when he was cross-examined by DPP Ahmad Akram Gharib.
Ahmad Akram was referring to audio recordings, which allegedly included a telephone conversation between Najib and then Emerati crown prince Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al-Nahyan. Based on the recordings, which the court has allowed to be admitted as evidence in the case, Najib allegedly sought Sheikh Mohamed's assistance to make the funds that appeared in Riza's account as legitimate, by making it look like the prince had given a loan to Riza.
The call was said to have taken place after the US Department of Justice initiated several forfeiture suits to recover assets that were allegedly acquired using funds embezzled from 1MDB. This included assets acquired by Riza.
One of the recordings, which were played during proceedings on Thursday, was allegedly on a conversation between Najib and Khaldoon Khalifa Al-Mubarak to follow up on the alleged assistance.
Najib repeatedly questioned the veracity of the recordings. "I can't verify the authenticity. The legality of the whole thing disturbs me," he said.
Ahmad Akram also asked whether the calls indicated that he had personal interest in resolving issues related to 1MDB. Najib disagreed. When pressed further, he said he had "no comments" on the matter.
The admissability of the recordings was extensively argued by both the defence and prosecution during proceedings in 2022 and 2023, after which presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that they can be admitted as evidence.
The recordings were first disclosed by former MACC chief Latheefa Koya at a press conference in 2020.
In this trial, Najib faces four abuse of power and 21 money-laundering charges.
The trial before Sequerah continues.