Yesterday, I posed the intriguing question, whether between former Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Sri Najib Razak and 1MDB “wonder crook” Jho Low, who will be the first to betray the other in the 1MDB “worst case of kleptocracy”!
Is this question too hypothetical and far-fetched or is it within the realm of possibility?
I tend to believe the latter, as I do not believe that there is honour between these two thieves.
In fact, Najib’s 1MDB scandal lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah did not discount such a possibility in his comments after Najib was charged in court last week with 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power in connection with the 1MDB scandal.
He said he was “very excited” about the book “Billion Dollar Whale” by Wall Street Journal journalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, and want to have it tendered as evidence.
He alleged the book confirmed that Jho Low was likely to have misled people.
He said: “The book said so. So it is very likely that in event of any situation where just because you have acted in a certain way, it doesn’t mean you have not been unduly influenced or misled.
“That is how people get cheated”.
Let Najib speak out, loud and clear – was he misled by Jho Low in committing the corruption, money-laundering and abuse of power in the 1MDB scandal?
He should not wait for the 1MDB trial to clear himself if he had been misled by Jho Low. Malaysians are entitled to the truth, especially as Najib is churning out daily statements on his blog.
But while Najib’s counsel was “very excited” by the “Billion Dollar Whale”, Jho Low’s lawyers were clearly aghast.
This was why Jho Low’s London-based libel lawyers have blocked the publication of the book detailing Jho Low’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal.
As one of the authors of the book, Bradley Hope said in a Malaysiakini interview, Jho Loh had made publishers in the UK get “cold feet” with threats of legal action as laws in the UK favour parties who feel defamed, over the role of free press in the society.
As a result, the “Billion Dollar Whale” is available all over the world, and a bestseller in Malaysia, the United States and Australia, but not available in the United Kingdom.
If not for the historic change of Federal government in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018, the book “Billion Dollar Whale” and Sarawak Report editor, Clare Rewcastlle Brown’s “The Sarawak Report – the Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose” would have been banned in Malaysia.
In any event, does Shafie really believe that the book? “Billion Dollar Whale” would exonerate Najib and he would want the book to be tendered as evidence in Najib’s trial?
It would be very interesting indeed if Shafie tenders the book as evidence in Najib’s trial on the 1MDB scandal.
Shafie should not overlook the position where Najib was the final approving authority for all 1MDB decisions, in law and in fact.
Najib was responsible in law as 1MDB was at all relevant times a government company and as the Prime Minister as well as Finance Minister he must accept full and final responsibility for all of 1MDB actions although he may not be responsible for its day-to-day operations.
Najib was responsible in fact, because under Clause 117 of the 1MDB Memorandum and Articles of Association Agreement (M&A), the Prime Minister must give his written approval for any of 1MDB deals, including the firm’s investments or any bid for restructuring.
How can Najib just pass the buck and claim that he was misled by Jho Loh to the tune of tens of billions of ringgit of taxpayers’ funds?
In fact, all of Najib’s Ministers must be held responsible for aiding and abetting Najib in the 1MDB scandal and turning Malaysia into a global kleptocracy!
In 2015, the Cabinet approved the Save 1MDB Roadmap, which was nothing but a Save Najib Roadmap.
Why are all the former Najib Ministers taking part in the greatest denial charade In the world even now pretending that still did not know whether there was a 1MDB scandal, when the 1MDB noose is getting tighter and tighter as evident from the latest report that Red Granite Pictures had paid US$60 million to settle the kleptocratic forfeiture litigation on 1MDB-linked assets launched by the United States Department of Justice in July 2015?
When will all the Najib Ministers and MCA/UMNO/BN leaders come clean and own up to their wrongdoings and betrayal of the national trust during the Najib premiership in aiding and abetting Najib in the 1MDB scandal?
Will the UMNO and MCA General Assemblies later this year have a special debate on the failures of their leaders to save the country from Najib and the 1MDB scandal, admit the failures and wrongs of MCA and UMNO in the Najib premiership and beg for forgiveness from Malaysians and future generations?
(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Christchurch, New Zealand on Tuesday, 25th September 2018)