Najib says bribery, power abuse charges ‘politically motivated’

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysia’s jailed ex-leader Najib Razak began his defence Monday against graft charges tied to more than $500 million in alleged bribes and several counts of money laundering, saying they were “politically motivated”.

The former prime minister, already serving a six-year jail term for corruption related to the plunder of sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, faces several other cases linked to the financial scandal that led to his defeat in 2018 elections.

Taking the witness stand, Najib told the court: “The charges against me are politically motivated.”

The case involves 2.27 billion ringgit ($510 million) in alleged bribes and 21 counts of money laundering.

If convicted, Najib faces hefty fines and sentences of up to 20 years for each count of abuse of power.

Dressed in a navy blue suit with matching tie, the 71-year-old coughed throughout his opening statement.

His wife Rosmah Mansor sat in the public gallery.

The case involves Tanore Finance Corp, which US authorities have said was used to siphon money from 1MDB. It was allegedly used to channel money to Najib’s personal bank account.

Najib issued an apology in October that the 1MDB scandal happened during his tenure, but maintained he had no knowledge of illegal transfers from the now-defunct state fund.

His lead lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, has said they were “more determined” than ever to fight the case.

During Monday’s proceedings, Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah granted Najib’s request to read aloud his entire witness statement — which runs to 525 pages.

Graft probes globally

Allegations that billions of dollars were pilfered from investment vehicle 1MDB and used to buy everything from a superyacht to artwork played a major role in prompting voters to oust Najib and the long-ruling United Malays National Organisation party in the 2018 elections.

The 1MDB scandal sparked investigations in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, where the funds were allegedly laundered.

The US Justice Department has said more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015 by high-level officials at the fund and their associates.

Najib began serving a 12-year jail term in August 2022 for offences linked to the misuse of public money from former 1MDB unit SRC International. The sentence was later halved by Malaysia’s pardons board.

Since then, Najib has won some legal victories.

On November 27, a Malaysian court allowed corruption charges in one of the five cases linked to 1MDB to be dropped against him.

Those charges were related to payments of more than $1 billion allegedly made to Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company.

Another charge of audit tampering ended with an acquittal in 2023.

Separately, the Court of Appeal will on Thursday hear Najib’s challenge against a lower court’s refusal to hear his request for house arrest.