NAJIB Razak’s defence that the RM42 million in his personal accounts came from donations from the Saudi royal family is akin to stories from Arabian Nights, the Court of Appeal said. 

In their 317-page grounds of judgment in the SRC case, the three-member panel found the Arab donation defence one that was untenable and a concoction.

“This tale that surpassed even those from the Arabian Nights not only lacked credibility, but was contradicted and dispelled by the documentary evidence,” the ruling read.

The Arabian Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales. 

Yesterday, the appeals court upheld the High Court’s decision and found the former prime minister guilty of all seven charges of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money-laundering in relation to SRC International, a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

The bench, chaired by Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil, delivered the unanimous decision in hybrid proceedings held in person and via Zoom.

Najib was found guilty of seven charges of money-laundering, criminal breach of trust and abuse of power by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, in July last year. He was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million.

The other judges were Has Zanah Mehat and Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera.

The judges said the donation entered and left Najib’s account sometime in 2013, well before the RM42 million was deposited into his personal accounts. 

They said former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali’s press conference on January 26, 2016, in which he exonerated Najib of any criminal wrongdoing, after close to six months of investigations, did not stand. 

“The former AG’s opinion, which he stated during the press conference, was in respect of the state of affairs as at January 26, 2016, while investigations were ongoing. 

“Surely, that premature statement cannot bind a future AG from exercising his prosecutorial powers when additional evidence is collected,” they said in the full judgment made available today. 

Following Apandi’s press conference the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had conducted further investigations into the case and recorded more than 76 new statements from witnesses relevant to the investigations. 

Apandi admitted during cross-examination during the trial that he was in fact not aware of further investigations being conducted.

He was also not aware that Najib had admitted to knowing about the money in his personal accounts in an affidavit of a defamation suit separate from the SRC trial. 

In their judgment, the judges said while the MACC continued their investigations, it was futile as no information was forthcoming. 

“It is worth noting that even after the two press releases, MACC did continue to investigate the purported source of funds from Saudi Arabia and to ascertain if the RM2.6 billion that came into the appellant’s account was a donation. 

“However, the trip to the Gulf was futile as MACC failed to get confirmation from the purported donor in the form of admissible evidence.”

The Saudis were also never called to testify during the trial, they added. 

Following yesterday’s ruling, the appellate court has agreed to set the decision aside, pending an appeal by Najib’s lawyers to the Federal Court. – December 9, 2021.