Najib ‘wilfully blind’ to the need to inquire into origin of 1MDB funds, says judge

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court ruled that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was “wilfully blind” to his failure to inquire into the origin of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds.

Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah (now a Court of Appeal judge) said that, given the substantial sums deposited, namely US$681mil, and the US$620mil returned to Najib’s account, it was his responsibility to take reasonable steps to determine if the funds were proceeds from unlawful activity.

“The above instances of conduct, along with the acts of receiving, using, and transferring the proceeds by the accused, were relevant under Section 8 of the Evidence Act 1950 and therefore admissible to reasonably and justifiably infer knowledge on the part of the accused regarding all 21 charges of money laundering,” the judge said in his 41-page summary judgment.

Earlier, Justice Sequerah ordered Najib, 71, to enter his defence on four charges of using his position to obtain gratification totalling RM2.3bil in 1MDB funds and 21 money laundering charges involving the same money after finding that the prosecution had established a prima facie case on all 25 charges.

Meanwhile, Justice Sequerah found evidence showing the US$681mil originating from Tanore Finance Corporation’s bank account at Falcon Private Bank, Singapore, was transferred to Najib’s account 9694.

“There is evidence to show that from the funds derived from illegal activities, the accused, through several cheques from account 9694, made payments to individuals and entities including Umno.

“There is also evidence that the accused was very much in control of the accounts at AmIslamic Bank, despite appointing a mandate holder such as Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil. According to the accused’s statement, he had knowledge of the transactions and their intended purposes,” the judge said.

The judge noted that former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, the 46th prosecution witness (PW46), testified that Najib had asked her to declare he had committed no wrongdoing.

“Former Ambank relationship manager Joanna Yu Ging Ping (PW41) testified about the role played by Jho Low or Low Taek Jho with respect to Najib’s account 9694 in ensuring a sufficiency of funds, and PW41 also stated the accused had knowledge over the matter although Nik Faisal was the mandate holder,” he said.

According to the judge, the method of demonstrating that the funds deposited into Najib’s account 9694 totalling US$680mil were from Tanore was explained by Assistant Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Division ACP Foo Wei Min (PW48).

“PW48 even explained that this method was used to differentiate between clean money and illegal money when the funds were commingled, as was the case here. Based on the available evidence, this court finds that the said properties were a result of unlawful activity,” he said. – Bernama