KUALA LUMPUR, 30 OCT – The flow of money from the US$3 billion bond issue which was supposedly for the development of The Exchange TRX has been transferred to a bank account belonging to the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah (now a Court of Appeal judge) who heard Najib’s 1MDB case said the matter was stated in the testimony of the 47th prosecution witness (SP47), namely Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) analyst Adam Ariff Mohd Roslan.
The judge said on March 12, 2013, the accused attended a joint venture signing ceremony between 1MDB and Aabar Investment PJS amounting to US$6 billion held at the Prime Minister’s Office.
“Prosecution evidence shows that on March 14, 2013, the accused signed a letter of support (LOS) to obtain a loan through a bond issue by 1MDB amounting to US$3 billion. On 19 March 2013, payment was made immediately by the New York Mellon Group bank to 1Malaysia Development Berhad Global Investment Limited’s (1MDBGIL) account.
“Evidence regarding the speed of the fundraising transaction was given by SP26 (former Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance Datuk Siti Zauyah Mohd Desa), SP42 (former SRC Non-Executive Director Datuk Suboh Md Yassin), SP9 (former 1MDB Chief Executive Officer Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi). and SP10 (former 1MDB Chief Executive Officer Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman),” he said in a 41-page brief judgment.
Judge Sequerah said that although the defense claimed that there was involvement of other parties in the decision-making process, it was the accused who had acted in various capacities, namely at the level of 1MDB as sole shareholder, at the level of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and at the level of the Cabinet.
“Therefore, the accused is the final decision maker. He was also seen not taking action to make any police report regarding the alleged involvement of other parties.
“Consideration of all the relevant evidence shows that the accused has taken such action in a matter in which he has an interest, which is a basic fact required to give rise to a presumption under Section 23(2) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act in relation to the third charge,” he said.
“The court also found that these witnesses had no motive to testify and make false accusations against the accused who at the time held great power as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.”
Earlier, Judge Sequerah ordered Najib, 71, to defend himself on four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount after finding that the prosecution successfully proved a prima facie case for all 25 charges at the end of the prosecution case. – Named