Najib's SRC Case Verdict: Judge Still Reading Out Judgement As At Noon

KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) -- As at noon, Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali was still reading out his judgement in the case of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak who has been tried on seven charges of misappropriating US$9.88 million (RM42 million) in SRC International Sdn Bhd funds. (US$1 = RM4.24) Najib, 67, was tried on three counts of criminal breach of trust (CBT), three charges of money laundering and one count of abuse of position in relation to the SRC funds. On the abuse of position charge, the judge said Najib's defence team had not succeeded in the matter of the balance of probabilities in raising a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case. Najib, as Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Malaysia, allegedly used his position to commit bribery involving RM42 million through his participation or involvement in the decision to provide government guarantees for loans from the Retirement Fund Incorporated to SRC International amounting to RM4 billion. He was charged with committing the offence at the Prime Minister's Office, Precinct 1, Putrajaya, between Aug 17, 2011, and Feb 8, 2012. Najib was Malaysia's sixth prime minister, serving from 2009 to 2018. Mohd Nazlan then went on to read out the judgement on the CBT charges. On the CBT charges, Judge Mohd Nazlan said testimony in court confirmed there was the involvement of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, including his giving instructions regarding Najib's bank accounts to former Ambank relationship manager Joanna Yu. Touching on the issue of a forged signature on documents that had been raised throughout the trial, the judge asked who would have the audacity to forge the signature of the Number One man in the country. “The defence also did not produce expert witness to verify Najib’s signature on documents which it claimed to be forged,” he said. Mohd Nazlan also said that Najib merely took the word of Jho Low that the money in his (Najib's) accounts was a donation from Arab royalty. He said Najib should have checked and verified the facts regarding the purported donation as there were no details on the gift. He said Najib, as the prime minister, easily accepted a simple confirmation from Jho Low when he could have made a phone call and checked the facts with the Arab royalty. -- BERNAMA