PUTRAJAYA, Oct 30 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak had wrongly painted himself as the victim of selective prosecution in the criminal trial involving the misappropriation of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) RM2 billion, the High Court heard today.
But deputy public prosecutor Datuk Ahmad Akram Gharib today said Najib’s attempt to portray himself as innocent in the 1MDB trial was just “political theatre”.
While Najib has tried to claim that he was a victim of his subordinates who had gone “rogue”, Akram said that the former prime minister was distorting the facts in the 1MDB case.
“He was not the victim of other men’s crimes. He was the architect of those crimes.
“The individuals he now labels as culprits have been shown to have acted on his orders, through his office, and for his benefit,” he said when arguing why Najib should be convicted in the 1MDB trial.
Akram pointed out that Najib was, in fact, the “most powerful decision-maker” both in Malaysia and in 1MDB when the crimes happened, and that his approval was needed for major 1MDB decisions and projects.
Akram highlighted that Najib held all these positions at the same time: prime minister, finance minister, 1MDB’s advisory board’s chairman, and 1MDB’s sole shareholder MOF Inc’s representative.
While Najib had blamed prosecution witnesses such as senior 1MDB officials for acting on their own in their alleged misconduct, Akram said the evidence in court showed that Najib was actually the “originator, director, and ultimate beneficiary” of the 1MDB schemes.
Akram said those prosecution witnesses who Najib had blamed were actually his own “operatives” who acted according to what they understood to be Najib’s instructions.
“The evidence reveals not a man wronged by others, but a man who used others to do his bidding — and who now seeks to escape the consequences of his own design,” Akram said.
“The accused was not the victim. He was the orchestrator,” he added.
In this trial, the prosecution says evidence shows that over RM2 billion in 1MDB funds entered Najib’s personal AmBank account, while the latter has claimed it is a Saudi donation.
Among other things, Akram said evidence from AmBank showed that the money had flowed through companies controlled by Low Taek Jho into Najib’s personal accounts, instead of the Saudi royal family as claimed by Najib.
Najib’s 1MDB trial resumes this afternoon, with his lawyers expected to present arguments to reply to the prosecution.
