COMMENT | Why Najib remains culpable for 1MDB despite apology

COMMENT | Despite his cautious apology to all Malaysians for 1MDB without admission of guilt, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak remains culpable for wrong-doing, fraud, and theft of enormous proportions at 1MDB, involving losses of over RM40 billion.

He is now clutching at straws, relying on a desperate attempt to serve his sentence outside of prison and in the comfort of his home through a move orchestrated by Umno and supported by top elements in the Madani government including the prime and home ministers under the still undefined concept of house arrest.

In his statement yesterday read out by his son, Najib has now latched on to a recent article in The Edge which says he, at that time, did not know of a particular instance where money was stolen from 1MDB.

The statement read: “The Edge had concluded in their article that Petrosaudi and Jho Low had collaborated to deceive me, that I was not aware that Petrosaudi was siphoning 1MDB funds, and that I did not knowingly receive any money from the funds sent by 1MDB to Petrosaudi.

“As hard as it is for some people to fathom, I was advised and honestly believe at the time that the funds I received were political donations from Saudi Arabia.”

The Edge's article was written by its CEO and publisher Ho Kay Tat last month. It read: “What is clear […] is that up to this point, that is, end-2010, Najib Razak was unaware that the cash injected by 1MDB into the JV company 1MDB-PSI had been stolen by Jho Low and Tarek Obaid (Jho Low’s co-conspirator).

“Jho Low and Tarek collaborated to mislead and lie to Najib that 1MDB was making good investments when they knew the money had been lost. And up to this point, the money trail shows none went to Najib himself.

“But, clearly, at some stage after the end of 2010, Najib must have found out, at least part of the truth, if not the whole truth. When? We do not know.”

The fact is that Najib had plenty of time to find out. The funds of US$681 million came into his account only in 2013, ahead of the 13th general election. When news of that broke...