Najib's 1MDB case is complicated - but on the first day of the trial, we have the benefit at looking at the Public Prosecutor's Opening Statement... which may help some of us understand better what happened...
But, be cautious, this is what the Public Prosecutor says - now, we need to see whether he can prove all the charges beyond reasonable doubt ...What will the Judge decide at the end of the case...
What is the Pakatan Harapan government doing to tighted up the laws of Malaysia to ensure that similar things will never happen in the future..?
We have several Parliamentary Committees, if you look at the Parliament Website, ...BUT what exactly are they doing...are they monitoring continuously the government and Government-linked companies? Are they having public inquiries ...or simply 'closed-door' secret sessions...
Sri Ram tells of 'elaborate charade designed to enrich Najib'
In his opening statement at
former premier Najib Abdul Razak's 1MDB trial, lead prosecutor Gopal Sri
Ram outlined how an elaborate charade was acted out in four phases.
The lawyer said the accused's ultimate aim was to obtain gratification for himself and had succeeded in achieving this.
“An
elaborate charade was employed. It was acted out in four phases in
which several characters played a part. But it was the accused who
played the pivotal role. His objective was to enrich himself.
“Although
this case concerns four phases, the events in respect of them are to be
considered as part of a consecutive story because of the pre-arranged
plan by the accused to enrich himself,” he told the Kuala Lumpur High
Court this morning.
Sri
Ram also revealed that an important character in this charade was
fugitive businessperson Jho Low, whom he described as Najib's “alter ego
and mirror image.”
Below is the opening statement in full:
1.
This case concerns the monies of a company called 1Malaysia Development
Berhad widely known as 1MDB. It was originally called Terengganu
Investment Authority or TIA. The accused was instrumental in changing
its name to 1MDB. He also caused amendments to be made to the articles
of the company to place himself in sole control of important matters
concerning the business and affairs of the company. In short, he was its
plenipotentiary.
Additionally, he was the chairperson of the
company's board of advisers. He used that position and that of the prime
minister and minister of finance to do certain acts and to exert
influence over the board of 1MDB to carry out certain abnormal
transactions with undue haste. The ultimate aim of the accused was to
obtain gratification for himself. He succeeded in achieving that aim.
2.
An elaborate charade was employed. It was acted out in four phases in
which several characters played a part. But it was the accused who
played the pivotal role. His objective was to enrich himself.
3.
Although this case concerns four phases, the events in respect of them
are to be considered as part of a consecutive story because of the
pre-arranged plan by the accused to enrich himself.
4.
An important character in the charade is a man called Low Taek Jho or
Jho Low. He is a fugitive from justice. He was involved in TIA, and
later in 1MDB. The prosecution will prove that the accused, by his words
and conduct, made it clear to 1MDB’s officers, its board and others
that Jho Low was his alter ego. In truth, Jho Low was the accused's
mirror image.
The prosecution will establish facts which will
give rise to an irresistible inference that Jho Low and the accused
acted like one at all material times.
5. The four charges under Section 23 of the MACC Act are in respect of each of the four phases.
In
respect of these charges, the prosecution will prove, through direct
and circumstantial evidence, that the accused, first in his capacity as
the deputy prime minister and minister of finance, and later as prime
minister and minister of finance, took several steps that led to part of
1MDB's funds being channeled into his account through a circuitous
route to prevent detection of its source.
The accused thereby used his position for gratification. In each of the phases, the accused acted as one with Jho Low.
6.
The first phase concerns the scenario of a so-called joint venture
created by the accused (acting through Jho Low and one Tarik Obaid, a
close associate of Jho Low). It was a false scenario of a joint venture
between 1MDB and a company called PetroSaudi International Ltd or PSI.
It was called Project Aria. In the first phase, the scene worked in the
following way.
7. 1MDB borrowed US$1 billion purportedly to
invest in a joint venture company called 1MDB Petro Saudi Ltd. The
money was to be paid into the account of the joint venture company.
Petro Saudi International took up to 60 percent of the shares in the
allegedly joint venture by injecting certain assets of dubious value.
The
US$1 billion was to represent 1MDB's contribution to its 40 percent
shareholding. But the so-called joint venture agreement was entered into
not with PSI, but with a company called Petro Saudi Holdings (Cayman)
Ltd. And it was Tarik Obaid who executed the agreement on behalf of
PetroSaudi Holding (Cayman) Ltd.
Evidence will be led to show the
abnormality of the so-called joint venture which close scrutiny will
reveal to be a mere device to siphon 1MDB's money for the accused’s
benefit.
8. The prosecution will, through oral and
documentary evidence, prove that US$700 million of the US$1 billion,
instead of being paid into the joint venture company's account, was
diverted by the accused into a company called Good Star Ltd which in
truth had nothing whatsoever to do with the joint venture. It was
incorporated in Seychelles on May 18, 2009, that is to say, five months
before the joint venture agreement was entered into. It was a company
owned and controlled by Jho Low.
9. The payment of Good
Star was made in great haste and without approval from 1MDB's board of
directors and in defiance of its directions. Good Star was falsely
described as the wholly-owned subsidiary of PSI (Petro Saudi
International). The payment to Good Star was vouched for the accused
through Jho Low as monies owned by the joint venture agreement referred
to a loan payable by the joint venture company to PetroSaudi Holdings
(Cayman).
The prosecution will, through documents, show that the so-called loan was a sham employed to justify the payment to Good Star.
10.
In March 2010, 1MDB entered into a so-called Murabaha financing
agreement under the terms of which an alleged US$1 billion equity in the
joint venture company was converted into useless Murabaha notes and
1MDB was required to make available to the joint venture company a sum
of US$1.5billion. In September 2010, a sum of US$500 million was sent to
the joint venture company.
This money has gone missing.
Then in
May 2011, a further sum of US$330 million, which was supposed to be the
second tranche of the investment into the Murabaha financing, was
diverted to Good Star. The accused took positive steps to put through
this transaction.
11. From the original sum of US$700
million, sums of money were disbursed by Good Star to several persons,
including one Prince Faisal, a close associate of the accused, Jho ,and
one Prince Turki.
Prince Turki, the accused and Jho Low were so
close that they holidayed together on a yacht in the south of France.
Prince Faisal received US$12,500,000 from Good Star on Feb 18, 2011. He
received a further sum of US$12 million from Good Star on June 10, 2011,
which came from the Murabaha scam.
From these sums, he
transmitted US$20 million to the accused's personal account in two
tranches of US$10 million each. The first tranche was received by the
accused on Feb 24, 2011, that is to say, six days after Faisal received
the money. The accused received the second tranche on June 14, 2011,
that is to say, four days after Faisal received the money. The US$20
million amounts to an equivalent of RM60,629,839.43. This forms the
subject matter of the first charge.
12. The first phase
came to an end in 2012 with 1MDB holding worthless pieces of paper. The
scam having been achieved, Good Star was wound up on May 2, 2014, and
PetroSaudi International was wound up on April 8, 2015.
13.
The second phase concerns the acquisition of assets of dubious value by
1MDB. The accused, using his position and acting through his mirror
image Jho Low, took positive steps and caused 1MDB to enter into two
transactions as a result of which the accused obtained a sum of
RM90,899,927.28 as gratification. This forms the subject matter of the
second charge.
14. These two transactions concerned the
acquisition of two independent power producers namely, Tanjong Energy
Holdings Sdn Bhd and Mastika Lagenda Sdn Bhd. Mastika owned 75 percent
shares in Genting Sanyen Sdn Bhd. To make the purchase, 1MDB acted
through its subsidiaries 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, 1MDB Energy Ltd and
1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd (all Labuan companies), as well as through
Malaysian registered companies, namely, 1MDB Energy Sdn Bhd and 1MDB
Energy (Langat). These companies were used to raise finance for both
acquisitions.
15. I now take each acquisition separately. A
local bridging loan of RM6.17 billion was raised for the acquisition of
Tanjong Energy. An additional sum of US$1.75 billion was raised through
the issue of 10-year structured loan notes. Goldman Sachs was appointed
as lead arranger for the issuance of these notes.
16. Of
the US$1.75 billion, US$786 million went to Tanjong Energy. Of the
balance, a sum of US$907 million was paid into the account of 1MDB
Energy Ltd with Falcon Bank in Hong Kong. Of this sum, approximately
US$577 million in round figures went to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd (BVI).
This
payment was purportedly as a security deposit for Aabar’s holding
company IPIC issuing a guarantee, guaranteeing the notes. In addition to
the security deposit, Aabar was also given an option to take up 49
percent of shares owned by 1MDB Energy Ltd in 1MDB Energy Sdn Bhd.
On
May 22, 2012, US$295 million was paid by Aabar to a company called
Blackstone Asia.
Blackstone is a company controlled by Jho Low (photo)
through his associate Tan Kim Loong, also known as Eric Tan. He is also
a fugitive from justice. Additionally, on July 25, 2012, a further sum
of US$133 million was transferred by Aabar to Blackstone. These monies
remained with Blackstone until October 2012. Goldman Sachs was paid
US$192.5 million in arranger's fee for this bond issuance.
17.
For the Mastika acquisition, the alleged purchase price was RM2.75
billion. The money for this came from two sources. First, another
10-year structured loan notes of US$1.75 billion. For this, 1MDB paid
Goldman Sachs US$110 million in arranger's fee. So, 1MDB got a nett sum
of US$1.64 billion. This sum was paid into 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd's
account with Falcon Bank, Hong Kong.
The second was a local loan
of RM700 million. The total loan raised from these two sources was about
RM6.16 billion. There was, therefore, an available excess of RM3
billion. This excess was almost wiped out by a payment on Oct 23, 2012
to Aabar Investment PJS (BVI) of a sum of approximately USD790 million
in round figures as a security deposit for Aabar's holding company IPIC
for allegedly guaranteeing the repayment of the notes.
As
additional security, Aabar was given an option to take up 49 percent
shares owned by 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd in 1MDB Energy (Langat) Sdn
Bhd. For the Mastika acquisition, Genting Power was paid US$710 million.
The loan raised through the notes for the Mastika purchase came into
1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd’s account on Oct 19, 2012.
18. On
Oct 23, 2012, Aabar paid a sum of approximately US$291 million in round
figures to Cistenique Investment Fund or CIF. On the same day, Aabar
paid US$76 million to Enterprise Emerging Markets Fund (EEMF). On Oct
23, 2012, Aabar paid US$75 million to Blackstone. This was part of the
US$790 million paid to Aabar.
Later, Nov 5, 2012, Aabar paid a
further sum of US$96 million to EEMF. Soon after CIF and EEMF received
the monies in question, they paid it to Blackstone. These monies were
then channelled by Blackstone into the accused’s account as follows.
19.
On Oct 30, 2012, a sum of US$5 million was paid into the accused’s
account at AmPrivate Bank. Then, on Nov 19, a sum of US$25 million was
paid into the accused’s account. The total sum received by the accused
in the second phase is set out in the amended second charge.
Evidence
will be led to show how financial layering took place to provide a
false justification for the movement of the monies. So much for the
second phase.
20. The third phase concerns another
purported joint venture between 1MDB and Aabar in equal shares. The
joint venture company was called ADMIC. This forms the subject matter of
the third charge. The purpose of this alleged joint venture was to
develop TRX or the Tun Razak Exchange in Kuala Lumpur.
IPIC was
to guarantee Aabar's investment. The Ministry of Finance, of which the
accused was minister, guaranteed 1MDB's investment by way of a letter of
support. A loan of US$3 billion was raised for this alleged purpose.
Goldman Sachs acted as the arranger of the loan.
21. On
March 14, 2013, the accused signed a letter of support to raise a loan
through the issue of bonds by 1MDB from the Bank of New York Mellon
Group in the sum of US$3 billion. On March 19, 2013, a sum of US$2.721
billion was disbursed into the account of 1MBD Global Investment Limited
with the BSI Bank at Lugano in Switzerland. The balance went to pay the
fee of Goldman Sachs.
22. From the US$2.721 billion, a sum
of US$1,060,606,065 was paid into the account of two fiduciary funds,
namely, Devonshire Funds Ltd and EEMF. Devonshire received
US$646,464,649 in five tranches over two days, that is to say, on March
20 and 21, 2013. EEMF received US$414,141,416 in three tranches, also
within two days, that is, March 20 and 21, 2013.
23. On
March 21, 2013, Devonshire transferred US$430 million to Granton
Property Holdings Ltd which is a company controlled by Eric Tan, Jho
Low’s shadow. On the same day, Granton transferred the whole of that sum
to Tanore Finance, also a company controlled by Eric Tan.
Also,
on the same day, that is to say, March 21, 2013, Devonshire transferred a
sum of US$210 million to Tanore Finance Corporation. Then, between
March 22, 2013 and March 25, 2013, EEMF transferred US$250 million to
Tanore which therefore by that date had US$890 million in its hands.
24.
Between March 21, 2013 and April 10, 2013, Tanore transferred US$681
million to the accused's account. In terms of our currency, this
amounted to RM2,081,476,926. This sum forms the subject matter of the
amended third charge.
25. Based on the evidence that the
prosecution will adduce, the so-called joint venture never took off.
There was no investment and there was no true joint venture. It was all a
sham. This concludes the third phase.
26. The fourth phase
concerns the purchase of the Aabar options by 1MDB. These are the
options that were given to Aabar in 2012 as allegedly part of the
consideration for IPIC’s guarantee for the notes that raised US$3.5
billion forming part of the second phase.
27. In May and
August 2014, ,through its subsidiary 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, obtained
two loans totalling US$1.225 billion from Deutsche Bank Singapore. The
accused approved this transaction. The loans were secured by guarantees
provided by 1MDB Energy and 1MDB Langat.
There was a bridging loan
of US$250 million and a facility loan of US$975 million. The first loan
of US$250 million was made available on May 26, 2014. From this amount,
a sum of US$239,939,970 was paid into 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd’s
account with Falcon Bank Hong Kong on 28 May 2014. Of this sum, Energy
Holdings paid Aabar Investments PJS Ltd BVI US$175 million to its
account in BSI Lugano, Switzerland allegedly to part redeem the option
given as additional security that was mentioned earlier when dealing
with the second phase.
28. From the sum of US$175 million, a
sum of US$19 million was paid by Aabar to the account of a company
called Affinity Equity International Partners Ltd. The payment was made
on June 18, 2014. The account was held at DBS Bank Ltd Singapore.
Affinity Equity is controlled by Eric Tan. Of the US$19 million, a sum
of US$1.89 million was transferred to a company called Blackrock
Commodities (Global) Ltd at its account held in DBS. Blackrock is a
company controlled by Eric Tan. On June 23, 2014, a sum of GBP750,000
was transferred to the accused’s account. This works out to RM4,093,500.
29.
I now turn to the second loan of US$975 million which was made
available on Sept 1, 2014. Of this sum, US$250 million was utilised to
discharge the bridging loan. That left US$25 million. On Sept 3, a sum
of US$223,333,000 was transferred to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd
(incorporated in Seychelles) at its account with UBS Singapore. Then, on
Sept 30, 2014, US$457,984,607 was paid to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd
(incorporated in Seychelles) at its account with UBS Singapore.
Between
Oct 16, 2014 and Nov 17, 2014, Aabar transferred a sum of US$226
million to Aabar International Investment PJS Ltd to its account in
Barbados. Between Oct 16, 2014 and Nov 17, 2014, Aabar Barbados
transferred US$225,500,000 to Vista Equity International Partners Ltd
(Barbados), a company owned and controlled by Eric Tan. Between Oct 23,
2014 and Dec 19, 2014, Vista Equity, through five tranches in sterling
currency, transferred a sum equivalent to RM45,837,485.70 to the
accused’s account. This sum, together with the RM4,093,500 earlier
mentioned, forms the subject of the fourth charge. It follows that part
of the sum alleged to be used to redeem the option ended up in the
accused’s account. So much for the fourth phase.
30. I now turn to the 21 charges for money laundering offences. These are the AMLA charges.
The
first nine charges relate to receiving of the RM2,081,476,926 which
forms the subject matter of the amended third charge. The monies fell
into the accused’s account ending 9694 with AmIslamic Bank. Between Aug
2, 2013 and Aug 23, 2013, the accused transferred a sum of
RM2,034,350,000 to Tanore Singapore.
Simultaneously, the accused
used the balance of RM22,649,000 to pay four entities and one
individual. The prosecution's case is that all these payments benefitted
the accused.
31. After making these payments, the accused
transferred the balance into a new account ending 1880 with AmBank
through two transfers amounting RM162,436,711.87. He closed his account
ending 9694.
32. The 10th charge and charges 16 to 19 relate to the transfers made by the accused to Tanore involving RM2,034,350,000.
33.
Charges 11 to 15 concern the use by the accused of the funds earlier
referred to through payments to the four entities and one individual.
All these payments were made by cheques signed by the accused.
34. Charges 20 and 21 concern the transfer of funds from the 9694 account to the 1880 account.
35.
In this latter part of the case, the prosecution will establish the
AMLA charges through direct and circumstantial evidence. It will be
proved that in all the circumstances of the case, the accused committed
the offence of money laundering contrary to Section 4(1)(a) of the
Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (Amlatfa).
36.
After the 1MDB scandal broke in early July 2015, the accused with his
mirror image Jho Low took steps to cover his tracks. Sham documents were
produced to pretend a donation from an Arab prince. Among these were
letters and four cheques, each for a sum of US$25 million, purportedly
written out by a person said to be the Arab donor. But these cheques
were never meant to be encashed and were never encashed.
37.
The prosecution will also produce evidence to show that the accused
took active steps to evade justice. He interfered with the course of the
investigation of this case which has come to be known as the 1MDB
scandal.
He took active steps to effect a cover-up of his
criminal acts. The prosecution will rely on all this evidence to show
that the accused had the requisite mens rea when the offences with which he is charged were committed. - Malaysiakini, 28/8/2019
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