Group to launch ‘Tabung’ to get donations for Najib’s legal fees

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.-Reuterspic

PETALING JAYA: A donation campaign to fund Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's legal defence will be launched at 2pm today (July 5).

The campaign, organised by a group of supporters of the former prime minister, will be launched at his house at Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur.

All supporters of Najib can donate to the campaign, according to the group calling itself “Solidariti Bersama Datuk Najib”.

“We want to give moral and financial support to Datuk Seri Najib,” said its spokesman Datuk Mohd Razlan Mohamad Rafii, who was the former Federal Territories Umno Youth chief.

“We know that he has been charged and his bail has been set at RM1mil.

“However, Najib can only pay RM500,000 and to fund the balance, he has to surrender his house title deed as security.

“We therefore want to offer our moral and financial support to him,” Mohd Razlan told The Star.

Najib on Wednesday claimed trial to three counts of criminal breach of trust and another charge of abuse of power involving RM42 million linked to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Najib pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The argument for bail took about an hour before it was fixed at RM1mil by High Court judge Datuk Mohd Sofian Abd Razak.

Attorney General Tommy Thomas proposed the bail to be set at RM4mil in cash, to which Najib's lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah objected, saying that it was too high an amount.

Muhammad Shafee said that his client is not a flight risk and asked for bail between RM500,000 and RM800,000 instead.

The bail was eventually set at RM1mil with two sureties. The court also agreed for the bail payment to be in two instalments.

Najib left the court complex after paying RM500,000 on Wednesday. The remainder will be paid next Monday (July 9).

It is unknown how much Najib will be paying in legal fees, but lawyers say that the case will likely last 18 to 24 months, and can be longer if there were interlocutory applications in between.

In May, police had raided six residences linked to Najib as part of its investigations into 1MDB, seizing cash and items valued at between RM900mil and RM1.1bil.

Police confiscated more than 12,000 pieces of jewellery, 423 watches, 234 sunglasses, and 567 handbags in what they described as the biggest seizure in Malaysian history.

The cash seized, in 26 different currencies, amounted to RM114mil.