NAJIB Razak’s defence that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, and his associates, had misled the former prime minister into committing graft “holds no water”, the prosecution told the Court of Appeal today.

Najib may have claimed that he had been manipulated, but he also admitted he had not lost anything and instead gained millions, lead prosecutor V. Sithambaram said in Najib’s appeal against his conviction and sentencing for graft charges involving RM42 million in SRC International funds.

“The appellant said he was being framed by Jho Low and purportedly by the bankers to make it appear that he had indeed committed the criminal breach of trust (CBT) offences.

“In actual fact, Jho Low was bank-rolling the appellant. Blaming Jho Low for ensuring the appellant had adequate funds in his personal account is simply outrageous,” the lawyer said.

Najib’s defence said Low had manipulated his account causing RM42 million from SRC International to flow into his accounts without his knowledge. 

But evidence during the trial last year had repeatedly shown that Low was tasked to ensure funds were available for Najib to utilise, Sithambaram said.

“Jho Low was dealing with Najib’s principal private secretary, the late Azlin Alias, and SRC’s chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, on the issuance of cheques by the appellant.

“The trio were ensuring there were sufficient funds at all times so that Najib’s cheques were not dishonoured.”

The prosecution team said there was no logic for Low to deceive Najib. 

In line with that, Sithambaram said Najib’s attempt to show his lack of knowledge of his multi-million ringgit account had collapsed.

“Najib admits that the Blackberry Messenger chats showed that Jho Low was in communication with him and through Azlin with regard to his bank balance. 

“This is so that Najib could gauge how much he could spend based on the available balance in the accounts. 

“This evidence is contrary to Najib’s mantra that he never knew his bank balance for the five years he used the accounts,” Sithambaram said. 

On July 28 last year, Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali had found the Najib, the Pekan MP, guilty on seven charges of CBT, money-laundering and abuse of power.

Nazlan convicted and sentenced Najib to 12 years’ jail and fined him RM210 million. Najib is currently out on bail of RM2 million in two sureties.

The appeal hearing is ongoing until April 28 before Karim Abdul Jalil, the Court of Appeal judge leading the three-man bench, with judges Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera. – April 20, 2021.