'Najib's donation belief not baseless, Riyadh ministry transferred money'
1MDB TRIAL | Credible documentary evidence showed funds flowed into Najib Abdul Razak's account from Riyadh’s Finance Ministry, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard this afternoon.
The former prime minister’s defence counsel Tania Scivetti argued that the nearly US$80 million transfer (over RM243 million in exchange rate then) strengthened the accused's belief that the funds were not illicit funds from 1MDB.
Scivetti told trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that...
1MDB TRIAL | Credible documentary evidence showed funds flowed into Najib Abdul Razak's account from Riyadh’s Finance Ministry, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard this afternoon.
The former prime minister’s defence counsel Tania Scivetti argued that the nearly US$80 million transfer (over RM243 million in exchange rate then) strengthened the accused's belief that the funds were not illicit funds from 1MDB.
Scivetti told trial judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah that the monetary transfer followed on the heels of Najib's earlier meeting with the late Saudi ruler Abdullah, who promised donation to the then-premier.
"Najib's belief was not baseless. Although the funds received in his 694 account did not come directly from Abdullah, he did receive a total of US$79,999,976 (RM243,699,926.32) from Riyadh’s Finance Ministry.
"There is no credible evidence that these monies from the ministry are illicit funds from 1MDB. To suggest that the funds are illicit would be nonsensical.
"The documentary evidence is plain and clear, substantial funds were remitted from Riyadh’s Finance Ministry," the lawyer submitted during Najib's RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering trial.
Najib’s defence team contended that the former premier was innocent as he had no knowledge of wrongdoing at 1MDB and that any such wrongdoing was solely masterminded by fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and members of the fund’s management.
Scivetti pointed out that Najib's belief in the funds being a Saudi donation was further bolstered by the accused's AmBank account also receiving a total of US$99,999,919 (RM311,122,245.94 in exchange rate then) from Abdullah’s grandson Prince Faisal.
She contended that the prosecution has not adduced evidence to show that the monies that Najib received from the Saudi prince were connected to 1MDB.
"Given the substantial funds received from reputable sources such as Riyadh’s Finance Ministry and Prince Faisal, it is clear that Najib had no reason to believe that the funds in his 694 account were proceeds of any unlawful activity.
"It would be unimaginable for him to even harbour an inch of suspicion that funds coming from such distinguished entities in Saudi Arabia could be illicit," Scivetti submitted.
Proceedings before Sequerah resumes tomorrow, with deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib expected to mount the prosecution's arguments for Najib to be ordered to enter his defence to the 25 criminal charges.
Najib’s 25 charges
Najib is on trial over four charges of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.27 billion of funds from 1MDB.
For the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP allegedly committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.
On the 21 money laundering counts, the 71-year-old was accused of committing the offences at the same bank between March 22 and Aug 30, 2013.
The accused was first charged on Sept 20, 2018, and his criminal trial began on Aug 28, 2019.
The prosecution closed its case on May 30 this year, six years after the former prime minister was first charged.
The proceedings are now in the oral submissions stage, which involves no witness testimonies, only legal teams summing up whether the oral and documentary evidence implicates or exonerates Najib.
Fifty witnesses took the stand for the prosecution, among them 1MDB's former CEOs Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman, the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund's former chairperson Mohd Bakke Salleh, and former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
The former finance minister previously contended that the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia promised the accused financial donation for political purposes.
Najib's defence team also pointed out that while US$681 million flowed into his two AmBank accounts in 2013, around US$620 million was returned to the sender.
