PUTRAJAYA, Jan 10 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak today verified several photographs showing him at 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) office in 2010, despite having previously told the High Court that he had never ever entered the office.
Najib, 71, said this while testifying in his power abuse and money laundering trial involving 1MDB’s RM2 billion, which were alleged to have entered his personal bank accounts.
Today, deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar reminded Najib that he had previously in the 1MDB trial cited a verse in the Al-Quran to “speak the truth even if it is against yourselves”.
Kamal Baharin also reminded Najib of the latter’s court testimony where he had twice said he “never set foot in 1MDB’s office”.
This prompted Najib to say “as far as I recall”.
When Kamal Baharin then suggested that Najib had actually been to 1MDB’s office in the past, the former prime minister said “I don’t remember.”
Asked if he had officiated 1MDB’s office, Najib said he did not remember.
But after being shown pages of several photographs of him at 1MDB’s office, Najib confirmed the photographs were of him.
These photographs, which the prosecution obtained online, included a signing ceremony with the date January 11, 2010.
Najib also confirmed a photograph of him signing a plaque for the official opening of 1MDB’s corporate head office, and agreeing that this photo meant he had been to the 1MDB office.
But Najib stressed that he had only been to the 1MDB office when it was launched, saying: “No other matters, just the opening. During the opening, that’s all.”
Previously, Najib had tried to dispute some of the power abuse charges against him in the 1MDB trial, as these charges had stated that he had taken actions at the 1MDB office, while he claimed he was never at the office.
Najib’s 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes next Monday.
