6 July 2018
Former Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has filed lawsuits alleging that top investigators anti-graft chief Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull, police commercial crimes head Datuk Seri Amar Singh and Attorney General Tommy Thomas were prejudiced against him over the course of their investigations. The three civil filings made last week but only made available to Reuters on Wednesday.
Low Taek Jho also known as Jho Low, and Eric Tan Kim Loong are still on the Wanted List of the Singapore Police for their roles in 1Malaysia Development Berhad corruption scandal, says a police spokesperson. The arrest warrants were first issued via the Interpol “Red Notice” in April and May 2016 respectively for Low and Tan. Singapore and Malaysia are co-operating in their respective enquiries.
The MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) has summoned financier Low Taek Jho, former 1MDB officials Tang Keng Chee, Geh Choh Heng, Loo Ai Swan and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, and were preparing warrants for the fund’s ex-chief Shahrol Halmi and former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker Roger Ng. Bloomberg reported.
Reuters reported that a part of the loan from Export Import Bank of China for two pipeline projects was used to repay dues of 1MDB.
Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, 42, a special officer to former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, was charged in the magistrate court by MACC.
Mr Amhari, who is a fellow of the US-based Eisenhower Fellowships (EF), is said to have worked directly with the former premier since 2009 on national economic policies and the annual budget.
Rafizi Ramli, vice-president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) claimed that Orb Solutions Sdn Bhd, a company part-owned by Mr Amhari, had received RM2 million (S$679,000) from Datuk Seri Najib’s personal account in August 2014. Investigators believe that Amhari played a central role in the Abu Dhabi settlement agreement.
It has come to light that High Court Judge Mohd Sofian Abdul Razak, who is presiding Najib Razak’s case, is the younger brother of a prominent Umno (Razak’s party) leader in Pahang, Datuk Seri Mohd Soffi. Malaysian Bar president George Varughese said that the judge ought to have disclosed his relationship to his brother’s position in Umno and the Pahang state government to the prosecution and the defence prior to the first day of proceedings. A gag order given out earlier by Judge Mohd Sofian Abdul Razak relating to 1MDB case has come under criticism by lawyers in Malaysia. Gag order appears to apply to print media only and not to internet. Purpose of the gag order is to prevent prejudicial statements that can affect trial, said the defence lawyer.
The defence attorneys are proposing to disqualify Tommy Thomas from being the Attorney General prosecuting the Najib Trial. Najib’s supporters are also getting signatures of the public for removal of Thomas as attorney general because of his lack of fluency in Bahasa Malaysia. The petition will be submitted to the king of Malaysia.
According to Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun, Jho Low is in Macau. There is no extradition treaty between Macau and Malaysia. According to a US Department of Justice, Low also holds another passport from the West Indies island of St Kitts and Nevis.
