KUALA LUMPUR, OCT 25 – Former Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, who was imprisoned yesterday issued an apology regarding the embezzlement of the country’s investment fund worth billions of dollars while insisting that he is innocent.
Najib established the state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MBD), shortly after taking power in 2009. Investigators allege more than US$4.5 billion was embezzled from the fund and money laundered by his associates to finance Hollywood films and extravagant spending.
The case upended Najib’s government and he lost the 2018 election. He faces numerous legal cases and begins serving his sentence in 2022 after losing his final appeal in his first corruption case.
The apology comes ahead of a court decision next Wednesday, whether to acquit or order him to defend himself in a second major corruption trial, where he faces four counts of abusing his power to obtain more than US$700 million from 1MDB and 21 counts of money laundering involving an amount of same
“I feel a burden every day knowing that the 1MDB crisis happened under my watch… For that, I would like to apologize profusely to the people of Malaysia,” Najib said in a statement, adding that he was still surprised to learn about the fraud and illegal activities that took place. in 1MDB.”
According to him, he should have acted differently but was deceived. He reiterated his non-cooperation with fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, identified by investigators as the mastermind behind the theft of the funds. Najib added that he had been punished politically and should not be accused unfairly. – AFP
