Judge: Najib had direct interest in 1MDB since TIA days

PUTRAJAYA (Dec 26): The High Court ruled that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had a direct interest in 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), as early as when 1MDB was known as Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

TIA was incorporated in February 2009 as a state investment arm for Terengganu, before it was taken over by the Ministry of Finance in July 2009. It was later renamed to 1MDB on Sept 25, 2009.

Trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, who is now a Federal Court Judge, said towards the end of 2008, Najib’s former aide, Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, testified that he received a BBM message from fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, saying that the latter had obtained approval for him (Jho Low) to join a meeting regarding TIA.

“This shows the obvious interest of the accused with the organisation in relation to the first charge, where he testified he was merely a public servant who was misled by his subordinates.

“He also claimed that the charges against him were politically motivated and claimed that he had no personal interest in the ventures of 1MDB, central to the defence of the accused that he believed the funds credited to his accounts were Arab donations,” he said.

The first charge against Najib was that he, as the Prime Minister, Finance Minister and chairman of the Advisory Board of 1MDB, was alleged to have used the positions to obtain gratification totalling RM60,629,839.43 by taking four actions between Feb 24, 2011 and June 14, 2011, at the Jalan Raja Chulan branch of the AmIslamic Bank Berhad here.

The charge read that on April 1, 2009, at the Cabinet Ministers’ Meeting Room, 4th Floor, Prime Minister’s Department, Putrajaya, through a memorandum from the Finance Minister, Najib had obtained approval from the cabinet for the Malaysian government to be the guarantor for Terengganu Investment Authority Berhad (TIA) to secure loans of up to RM5 billion from domestic and foreign markets through Islamic Medium Term Notes Programme.

On the second charge, the judge held that Najib’s signature was pivotal and instrumental in the issuance of the US$1.75 billion bond raised by 1MDB, although Najib testified that he didn’t place his signature on the bond approval document.

“Najib sought to place reliance upon the expert evidence by handwriting expert Tay Eue Kam to bolster his contention. With regard to this, it can be said that the defence had never attempted to dispute the authenticity of the documents.

“It was disputed later at the defence stage, leaving it construed as an afterthought. The comparative examination also returned an inconclusive opinion. It does not do anything to substantiate the contention of the accused that he didn’t sign the document,” said the judge. – Bernama