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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s second trial in his life — and also this year — started this morning at the High Court here.
Dressed in a blue suit, the former prime minister entered the criminal courtroom 1 on the fourth floor of the Kuala Lumpur Complex at 9.32am, just one floor below the courtroom where he had been frequenting for his first trial over criminal and corruption charges involving RM42 million funds of SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of sovereign investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Najib’s wife and children were not seen in the courtroom, while a few of his supporters and aides were sighted.
The courtroom that requires entry passes was packed largely with media personnel and included several members of the public, with extra benches also added.
Najib’s 1MDB trial will be heard before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
Najib’s 12-man defence team included his lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, while former judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram and deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib led the prosecution team that included 10 other lawyers.
Lawyers Hisyam Teh Poh Teik and Raehan Yogaratnam held a watching brief for Goldman Sachs, while Guok Ngek Seong held a watching brief for Semarak Konsortium. Roger Chan and Rajsurian Pillai held a watching brief for Malaysian Bar.
The Pekan MP is facing a total of 25 charges, namely four counts of abusing his position for his own financial benefit totalling almost RM2.3 billion and the resulting 21 counts of money-laundering.
The 1MDB trial (or case number two) has also been described as the Tanore case, taking after the company Tanore Finance Corporation which has been named as the firm which passed allegedly illegal funds to Najib.
The abuse of power charges
The four counts of alleged abuse of power under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009’s Section 23 are in relation to a total of RM2,282,937,678.41 (more than RM2.28 billion) that Najib was alleged to have benefited from personally by using his position.
Najib was alleged to have committed these offences by a series of decisions and approvals in relation to things such as 1MDB’s precursor Terengganu Investment Authority, 1MDB’s joint venture with PetroSaudi International Limited and related investment, 1MDB’s joint venture with Aabar Investment PJS, loan approval for 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited, and issuing a letter of support to 1MDB Global Investment Limited for bonds to be issued.
The abuse of power was alleged to have occurred between February 24, 2011 to December 19, 2014, when Najib held the triple roles of prime minister, finance minister and 1MDB advisory board chairman at the same time.
The penalty for this corruption offence of power abuse is a maximum jail term of 20 years, and a fine of RM10,000 or five times the value of the amount that the accused is said to have benefited from.
The money-laundering charges
As for the 21 money-laundering charges that arise from the corruption charges, Najib is accused of having committed these offences by having dealt with illicit funds or money that are proceeds from unlawful activities.
Under the money-laundering charges, Najib is accused of having received a total of RM2,081,476,926 (RM2.08 billion) in his AmIslamic Bank account from Tanore Finance Corporation’s account at the Falcon Private Bank in Singapore, and also having used illegal funds totalling RM22.649 million by issuing cheques to five recipients including Umno and Batu Kawan Umno.
Najib is also accused of having transferred illegal funds out of his AmIslamic Bank account totalling RM2,196,786,711.87 (RM2.197 billion), including a total of over RM2.034 billion to Tanore Finance Corporation and smaller sums of RM150 million and over RM12 million to another AmIslamic Bank account owned by him.
These offences were allegedly committed within a few months from March 3 to August 8, 2013.
The penalty for the money-laundering offences brought under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act is a maximum RM5 million fine or a maximum five-year jail or both.
