In the wake of the guilty verdict against former prime minister Najib Razak in the 1MDB case, the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) has urged Putrajaya to implement reforms at government-linked companies (GLCs) and prevent any conflict of interests from arising.
C4 cited the judgment by the Putrajaya High Court that pointed out how fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, wielded significant influence in 1MDB’s operations despite holding no official positions within the state-owned company.
It said currently the government still appoints politicians to leadership positions in federal statutory bodies and GLCs, and this could lead to a conflict of interest.
“It was found that 1MDB officers had acted on instructions by Low as they genuinely believed that Low was acting on Najib’s instructions or with his endorsement.
“Have there been any effective reforms to the management and governance of GLCs to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future?” C4 asked in a statement today.
C4 also urged Putrajaya to urgently extradite Low back to Malaysia to ensure he will be charged for his part in the 1MDB scandal.
It also called for the government to hold accountable those who had played a role in creating or supporting the now-debunked “Arab donation” narrative for the large sums of money credited into Najib’s account.
C4 named Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Azam Baki and deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as people who had publicly endorsed the donation narrative.
“The court noted that the visit by MACC to Riyadh, under the supervision of Azam, was ‘pre-planned’ and an attempt to ‘complete the story’ about the donation.
“Zahid had also publicly stated that he had met the representative of the donor family in support of the ‘donation’ narrative,” it added.
C4 said institutional reforms must be implemented, including strengthening oversight mechanisms, allowing independent appointments for the MACC, creating an independent public prosecutor office and drafting laws regulating political donations.
Yesterday, the High Court sentenced Najib to 15 years in prison and fined him RM11.387 billion following his conviction in his 1MDB case.
Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered Najib’s jail term to begin in 2028, after he completes his six-year prison sentence in the SRC International case.
The court had found the former prime minister guilty of four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds deposited in his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
