KUALA LUMPUR: The prosecution in the RM2.28bil 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) case has failed to specify Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s exact interest behind his decisions pertaining to the sovereign wealth fund, the High Court heard.
Lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said his client’s four charges of abuse of power did not specify the actual “direct interest” that motivated Najib’s decisions.
“The actual ‘direct interest’ underlying those decisions has been left for this court and the accused to wonder about.
“Here, the prosecution, despite alluding to the existence of ‘direct interest’ in Najib’s decisions in all the four charges, has failed to specify where the purported direct interest lies,” he said during submissions at the end of the prosecution’s case yesterday.
The lawyer contended that the issue became more complicated in the present case where Najib’s three official positions – prime minister, finance minister and chairman of 1MDB advisory board – were accused of being abused for multiple offences simultaneously.
In the written submission, the defence inserted a table of “possible permutations” of which Najib’s interest could have been in the various companies linked to the case.
“Due to the absence of a specified interest and the multitude of potential interests to choose from, Your Lordship would be an unwilling participant in the prosecution’s game if Your Lordship were to read into and identify an interest that the prosecution has clearly not indicated,” he said.
Muhammad Shafee further submitted that, given the lack of details, the four predicate charges on power abuse were defective, improper, ambiguous and misleading.
“Most of all, highly prejudicial, causing the accused embarrassment in preparation for his defence,” Muhammad Shafee said.Najib, 71, is on trial for 25 charges in total – four for abuse of power that allegedly brought him the financial benefit to the tune of RM2.28bil, and 21 for money laundering involving the same amount of money.
The four counts of power abuse were framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of up to five times the amount or gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, upon conviction.
For the 21 charges of money laundering, Najib is charged under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act, which carries a maximum fine of RM5mil and imprisonment for up to five years, or both, upon conviction.The hearing before Justice Colllin Lawrence Sequerah continues today.
