Jho Low or people associated with him may be trying to implicate Najib of crime

Jho Low or people associated with him may be trying to implicate Najib of crime

August 8, 2018 

Raggie Jessy

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has claimed trial to three counts of money laundering at the High Court here.

The charges were read out before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali in Malay, to which the former premier pleaded not guilty on Wednesday (Aug 8).

Najib was slapped with fresh charges of receiving RM27mil, RM5mil and RM10mil, which were allegedly obtained from illegal activities, into his bank accounts in three separate transactions.

The first and second offences were allegedly committed at AmIslamic Bank at Jalan Raja Chulan on Dec 26, 2014 while the third offence was allegedly committed at the same place on Feb 10, 2015.

The charges are related to the RM42mil allegedly deposited into his personal bank accounts from SRC International Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) placed under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry in 2012.

The offences under Section 4 (1)(b) of Anti-Money Laundering Act, Anti-Terrorism Financing Act and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLA) 2001 carries a punishment of up to 15 years’ prison and a fine of up to five times the monetary amount involved.

The case was earlier heard before Sessions Court judge Azura Alwi, who allowed the prosecution’s application to transfer the case to the High Court.

The prosecution team, led by Datuk Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria, applied to have it heard together with the previous charges before another High Court.

The defence, led by Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, agreed that the move was sensible, saying these charges are subsidiary to the earlier predicated offences.

Source: The Star Online

TTF: The fresh charges brought against Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak by the Kuala Lumpur High Court today (see news item below) relate to the same case Najib was charged for on the 4th of July 2018 and has nothing to do with the arrival of Equanimity on our shores.

The luxury cruise liner, which Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Lim Guan Eng publicly alleged belongs to billionaire Jho Low, is being held illegally by Malaysian authorities.

The illegitimacy of the seizure stems from the fact that the yacht, deemed material evidence by the United States (US) Department of Justice (DoJ), is being sought by the department pursuant to a controversial loophole in American jurisprudence.

Known as Civil Forfeitures, the law allows the DoJ to file forfeiture proceedings against any company or individual suspected – not convicted – of crime or illegal activity hinged solely on complaints that imply wrongdoing on American soil.

Not only does Malaysia have no such law, the filing of forfeiture proceedings and the subsequent order issued by a US court for the seizure of the yacht concerns crime that may have been committed on American soil, not Malaysian.

Thus, not only is the seizure of the yacht by Malaysian authorities suspect, so is the timing, which seems to coincide perfectly with charges brought against Najib by the Kuala Lumpur High Court. 

It follows, that the Government of Malaysia (GoM) may be involved in a high-profile conspiracy, perhaps even with persons associated with Jho Low himself, to imply that Najib facilitated the siphoning of 1MDB funds for the purchase of the luxury liner. It is entirely possible that Daim Zainuddin entered a deal with Low when the two met during the former’s recent trip to China.