PUTRAJAYA (Dec 26): The High Court on Friday ruled that the return of US$620 million in 2013, from former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak back to Tanore Finance Corp, was just another way to hide the illegal origins of the monies.
In delivering his final verdict in the 1MDB-Tanore trial, presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah said this was just another run-of-the-mill money-laundering transaction.
"Furthermore, despite claiming to have returned the funds, the accused later received fresh funds.
"It stands to reason that if the returned sums were truly a one-off donation, there would be no need for subsequent donations.
"Instead of returning the funds with a stamp of legitimacy to the contrary, the irresistible inference is that the return of the funds was clearly staged to disguise the illicit origin of the funds while ensuring that the accused continued to benefit from them," he said.
Najib received US$680 million and returned US$620 million. He has consistently claimed that he was innocent because he believed the monies were donations.
While on the stand in January this year, Najib testified that he returned the "unused funds" because the 13th general election was over and he didn't need a large sum of money.
He also reiterated that he did not want the funds in his personal account to be misinterpreted negatively by people.
Sequerah also said that the defence was prevented from raising a similar donation defence as it had already been deliberated and adjudicated upon at great length during the SRC trial.
The Edge is covering the trial live here.
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