KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today claimed that the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) forfeiture action in 2016 to recover more than US$1 billion of 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) assets was a conspiracy between two political parties in the US and Malaysia to change the government.
Testifying in his defence in his 1MDB trial here, Najib also highlighted US DoJ’s 2021 move to block his bid to get access to additional evidence from Goldman Sachs and its former banker Tim Leissner in US courts, which he claimed would exonerate him and help in his defence in the 1MDB trial in Malaysia’s courts.
“I am of the view that the DoJ was so protective of this exculpatory evidence because it must be so beneficial to me that it would directly rebut the wild allegations raised in their civil forfeiture actions, including the US Department of Justice’s civil forfeiture suit filed in 2016, in the case of United States of America v. Wolf of Wall Street Motion Picture.
“I also believe this forfeiture action was politically motivated and orchestrated as part of a collaboration between the United States Democratic Party and the then-opposition party in Malaysia in order to effect a regime change in Malaysia,” he told the High Court here, without naming the then opposition party.
Pakatan Harapan was the opposition coalition in 2016, and is now part of the ruling government.
In 2016 when the US DoJ launched its forfeiture suit, Najib was still the prime minister of Malaysia and heading the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.
“I further believe that this collaboration was the key motive in obstructing my access to the exculpatory evidence as it would undermine their narrative and expose the untruths in their allegations against me,” he claimed.
Earlier today, when his defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah asked him to confirm if the US attorney general at the time, Loretta Lynch, had publicly disclosed related information, Najib replied in the affirmative.
“Yes, it was very well known what Loretta Lynch did, it was literally to lynch me,” he said.
Both Shafee and Najib did not say when Lynch had made such public announcements of evidence related to 1MDB.
On July 20, 2016, then US attorney general Lynch announced the US filing of civil forfeiture complaints — involving over US$3.5 billion allegedly stolen from 1MDB — to recover over US$1 billion assets associated with an international conspiracy launder 1MDB funds. Lynch was US attorney general during the 2015 to 2017 period.
While Najib was concerned that delays in accessing evidence in US courts could possibly prejudicing his defence in his ongoing 1MDB trial in Malaysia, the US DoJ had opposed his bid to get the evidence as it could potentially affect its prosecution in ongoing US criminal proceedings and affect confidentiality of witnesses and evidence in the 1MDB scandal.
Najib confirmed to Shafee that the US DoJ did not specify in 2021 how giving him access to the evidence would affect the prosecution’s strategy and confidentiality of witnesses, before going on to accuse Lynch of literally trying to “lynch” him in 1MDB matters.
Today, Najib said a judge in a New York court had on January 8, 2021 initially granted his request to access alleged exculpatory evidence from Leissner, but had on May 7, 2021 granted the US government’s February 9, 2021 bid to stay or put a pause to this.
The court in New York, US had said this was necessary to protect the integrity of ongoing 1MDB criminal trials in New York involving Low Taek Jho and Roger Ng, and said Naijb’s concerns of delays in getting evidence were outweighed by public interest in safeguarding the US criminal proceedings’ integrity and ensuring the security of witnesses and evidence.
Later when asked by his lawyer Wan Azwan Aiman Wan Fakhruddin about his bid to seek the additional evidence in US courts given the DoJ’s 2016 damning 1MDB allegations against him, Najib claimed that he was confident that the evidence would purportedly clear him of guilt in the 1MDB case.
“Yang Arif, if I were complicit in the defrauding of 1MDB, it would have been totally insane for me to ask for this evidence from the courts, because that would implicate me. I would be insane to have done it.
“On the other hand, it would be more logical for me to try to suppress the evidence. If I were involved, I would suppress, logically I would try, but I want the evidence and I want the evidence to be presented in court. Because I feel totally vindicated, Insya Allah if the evidence was tabled, I feel confidently Insya Allah I would be exonerated,” he said, using the Arabic phrase “Insya Allah” that means “God willing”.
Among other things, Najib had said he is “left to face prosecution in Malaysia with my hands tied” without the evidence which he was seeking in the US on 1MDB officials.
During the lunch break for today’s heading, Shafee held a press conference where he continued speaking about the US DoJ’s 2016 1MDB forfeiture action, as well as on Najib’s unsuccessful bid for the additional evidence.
“We have always believed that this DoJ’s announcement in 2016 was politically-motivated. You remember it was just before the election of 2018, we always believed it was engineered by many persons headed by the US, they wanted a regime change in Malaysia — that was under the Democrats and Obama was then the president and Loretta Lynch was the attorney general.
“Until today, that forfeiture proceedings is never tried, until today, it’s just allegations,” Shafee told reporters in the conference that was also streamed live on Najib’s Facebook page, before accusing the US of being involved in regime changes throughout the world.
