Najib didn't even visit the bank: Lawyer Shafee criticises RM60 million abuse of power charge in 1MDB case

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 – Prosecutors wrongly accused former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak of abusing his power to obtain 60 million ringgit for himself by not even going to the bank in the case against 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), his lawyer told the High Court today.

In the 1MDB trial, Najib is accused of four counts of abuse of power. Among other things, he is alleged to have used his position as Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Chairman of the 1MDB Advisory Board to fraudulently obtain an amount of RM60,629,839.43 at the Jalan Raja Chulan branch of AmIslamic Bank between February 24, 2011 and June 14, 2011.

But Najib's lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah stressed that the prosecution had accused his client of abusing his power at AmIslamic Bank, rather than accusing him of committing the crime in other places, such as the finance minister's office or the prime minister's office or in places related to his position as chairman of 1MDB's advisory board.

“This crime, they categorically stated, was committed by my client at AmIslamic Bank, namely, he abused his power at AmIslamic Bank.

“But Yang Arif, we know from the various prosecution testimonies that money was deposited into my client's account at AmIslamic Bank. That is your case. So you are saying that receiving the reward is the crime,” he said.

But Shafee questioned the prosecution's charges, saying they contradicted other cases, such as the SRC International Sdn Bhd case. He noted: “My client said so, he wasn't even at the bank.”

“So, Yang Arif, unlike SRC, unlike all the cases, the prosecution actually formulated this charge in a very convoluted way, and they got it wrong,” he claimed, questioning the prosecution's charge that accused Najib of abusing his power at the bank rather than getting a reward or money from the bank.

Shafee claimed the prosecution's charges were confusing and that Najib “never saw the AmBank building” except perhaps when he walked past it.

“He has never been to AmBank. How could he abuse his power at AmBank that day? So that completely baffles us and puts us at a disadvantage in our defense.”

In all four counts, Najib was accused of abusing his power to obtain profits totalling 2.27 billion ringgit from the AmIslamicBank branch in Jalan Raja Chulan.

The first charge of abuse of power listed four aspects or four acts that Najib was alleged to have committed in his abuse of power; the second and third charges each included two aspects.

Shafee had previously argued that all four charges of abuse of power against Najib were flawed because they allegedly involved duplicity, diversity and ambiguity.

He also argued that this would harm Najib.

Shafee argued that the alleged flaws in the four counts of abuse of power made those charges illegal and false and that Najib should be acquitted and walk away “at large”.

He argued that the prosecution should have split the different parts of the four charges into ten counts to enable Najib to better defend himself.

“So we are saying there should be 10 counts, not four. We are not asking that our client be convicted of any more crimes. No, we are saying this is a fair trial, you have to specify, and if you break it down into 10 counts, that would show the prosecution's full burden of proof,” he said.

Today is the first day of the filing phase at the end of the prosecution's arguments in the 1MDB trial. At the same time, lawyers for Najib and the prosecution will present their closing arguments before the Supreme Court decides whether to call him to defend himself.

Shafee said this morning that Najib's legal team had submitted about 17 volumes of briefs totalling about 2,500 pages.

The 1MDB trial before Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah will continue tomorrow afternoon.