PUTRAJAYA, Jan 15 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today denied that China had bailed out or paid for 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) debts, or that he had sent his then special officer Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin to China in June 2016 to get 1MDB debts settled.
Testifying in his own defence in his trial involving RM2 billion of 1MDB funds which allegedly entered his bank account, Najib said he had sent Amhari alone to China to explore if the latter was interested in infrastructure projects in Malaysia.
Previously, Najib told the High Court that Low Taek Jho — better known as Jho Low — was involved in arranging for logistics and to facilitate Amhari’s introductions to senior Chinese government representatives and officials in China’s state-owned enterprises.
Under cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, Najib agreed that the issue of abuse of 1MDB’s funds had already become a “hot” topic globally by mid-2016 and that investigations had already begun by then.
While agreeing that Low was already said to be the mastermind of the 1MDB scheme then, Najib said that he did not know the “full extent” of Low’s role at that time.
Najib agreed that Low was portrayed in 2016 as someone who had cheated Malaysia and a bad person who misappropriated 1MDB’s money, and that there were photos of the latter partying with famous individuals.
When asked why he still needed Low to help Amhari in China amid the bad press, Najib replied: “Because my intention is to generate wealth for Malaysia as quick as possible, because he has connections, that’s why we used him. But there is no basis to the claim that I wanted to use China to settle 1MDB’s debt, no.”
Agreeing he had asked Low to help Amhari while the latter was in China, Najib said this was as long as the prospective project being discussed in China benefited Malaysia, and referred to this as the currently ongoing project East Coast Rail Link (ECRL).
Asked why he had used Low who was said to have abused 1MDB funds for help in China, Najib said his intention was to obtain economic opportunities for Malaysia and that the ECRL project was of benefit to Malaysia.
Pressed on why he did not use Malaysia’s ambassador or its many officials instead, Najib continued to defend why he had tapped on the allegedly well-connected Low’s help: “True, but he has certain personal connections with these people. That’s what I want, I wanted this to happen quickly for Malaysia.”
Najib later added that his focus was on helping Malaysia collect as much money as possible.
After Amhari’s “preliminary” trip to explore if China was interested, Najib said he did subsequently involve government officials for transparent negotiations with China on the projects, and said the ECRL’s project being continued under other Malaysian governments was proof that it was properly carried out.
Why Najib said China did not bailout 1MDB
Earlier today, Najib repeatedly denied that Amhari’s June 2016 trip to China was to negotiate deals to pay off 1MDB debts, and also denied the trip involved his “personal interests” and that it was why he had selected Amhari — who was also head of the Prime Minister’s Department’s economic division.
The prosecution today showed a talking point which Amhari had allegedly received from Low, where Amhari was told what to say to Chinese officials — including to introduce Low to them as a “highly trusted individual” to then prime minister Najib and as the designated key person in China for high-level discussions.
Najib said he could not confirm what had happened as he had never seen this document before, and disagreed that he had ordered Amhari to introduce Low in that way and also disagreed with the description regarding Low.
Najib confirmed he did not tell Amhari who to meet in China as the latter was supposed to find out himself.
Najib said he was sure Amhari would be able to get those appointments as he went there on behalf of Malaysia’s prime minister and that he believed Amhari made the arrangements before leaving for China.
Najib disagreed that Low served as the non-Mandarin-speaking Amhari’s interpreter or that Low was involved in the talks with Chinese officials in the 2016 trip, arguing that the Chinese officials would have their own interpreters and that many Chinese there were quite fluent in English.
While the talking points included a point for Amhari to mention an offer for China’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to invest in infrastructure projects in Malaysia while “simultaneously completely resolving 1MDB and SRC International Sdn Bhd’s debts”, Najib said he could not confirm if Amhari actually said this.
Najib later disagreed that Amhari would have talked to the Chinese about the 1MDB and SRC debts based on his instructions, as he called this an “absurd” and “ridiculous” scheme.
Najib had dismissed the idea that China would settle 1MDB’ss debts, questioning how SOEs belonging to China’s government would do so: “How can the government of China pay off 1MDB debts? It’s not possible and they will look ridiculous and they will be subject to severe international condemnation. And anything SOE you know, goes up all the way, there’s no way they could have done this without approval from the highest people.”
“What I’m telling you, this is a scheme — if it was proposed — no way government can settle, it’s not logical. What is the mechanism, they do infrastructure, we pay them, how would they settle 1MDB’s debt all of a sudden? People are going to ask a lot of questions,” he said.
The talking point also mentioned proposed cooperation with China’s SOEs for the ECRL project and the Trans Sabah Gas Pipeline (TSGP) project in Malaysia with “above market” profits which would allegedly include the SOEs assuming some of SRC’s and 1MDB’s debts.
But Najib today said there was no evidence and no way that he had instructed for the projects to be awarded at an exorbitant price, adding that Malaysia would have certainly negotiated for a reasonable and realistic price as its agencies — the Finance Ministry, the Transport Ministry, the Economic Planning Unit — were experienced in the costing of rail projects.
He said the fact that the ECRL project had still continued on after changes in government meant that the alleged scheme to award the ECRL project at an inflated price to China “never happened”, noting that subsequent governments would have disputed the project if the price was too high.
“The end result was that the project was negotiated on a fair price basis, the subsequent government continued. In fact, now they say the ECRL project is a real game changer for the east coast,” he said.
Insisting that he did not give such orders to Amhari to get China’s SOEs to settle 1MDB’s debt or to inflate the project price, Najib claimed: “Because you have no evidence, so the case is closed.”
As for a purported written report on Amhari’s China trip in 2016, Najib said Amhari verbally briefed him after returning to Malaysia but did not give him this document.
This document contained various points about Amhari’s alleged discussions with Chinese officials, including for China to pay for the debts of five companies — 1MDB; 1MDB Energy Limited (1MEL); 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited (1MELL); 1MDB Global Investments Limited (1MDB GIL); SRC — in exchange for the award of projects in Malaysia such as the ECRL and TSGP.
But Najib repeatedly denied this, saying: “Nothing of this sort happened, because 1MDB had nothing to do and never negotiated with the Chinese. So whatever is written here did not happen, did not materialise.”
Najib said there was no evidence that 1MDB officials had made such negotiations with China or that such debts-for-projects deals had happened, and insisted that the awarding of those projects were not connected to 1MDB.
Najib said Amhari’s verbal report to him was on the two main projects of ECRL and gas pipeline, saying: “Nothing of what you said just now materialised, nothing. In other words, the Chinese were never involved in settling 1MDB’s debts.”
Najib’s 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes tomorrow morning.