YOURSAY | ‘No one can escape this time around, and nothing can save you.’

Najib: DOJ lawsuit doesn't involve me

FellowMalaysian: I believe Malaysians have become blasé of hearing the same old denials and seeing the same old pretence by PM Najib Razak even though new and potentially stinging evidence which may implicate him to wrongdoings associated with the embezzlement of funds from 1MDB will be divulge soon in the court hearings of the five named individuals by the DOJ.

Najib is proclaiming his innocence in the charge brought about by DOJ by the mere fact that his name was not specifically mentioned in the court filings.

Instead of gloating and trumpeting over the failure of the civil suit to make any charges against him, Najib needed no reminders that the moniker 'Malaysian Official 1' or 'MO1' has been repeatedly mentioned 36 times in the affidavit.

Odin Tajué: I think the best thing to do, at least in this instance, is to ignore what Najib is saying. He has shown himself to be, among many other unsavoury qualities, evasive when confronted with questions to which honest, direct answers would damn him.

The one that everyone must be able to recall was raised immediately after The Wall Street Journal’s first devastating exposé, id est, whether US$681 million was indeed transferred into his bank accounts.

His answer, which everyone must also be able to recall, was that he never took public funds for his personal gains. That answer did not answer the question.

Najib is like a young boy caught with his hand in a bottle of sweets that he intends to steal. But unlike a young mind, he is able to provide answers that would not incriminate him. (And in all instances, he has been able to wriggle his way out because of unquestioning, uninquisitive questioners or by simply ignoring these people.)

We see an example here. He is correct in saying that the US Department of Justice’s lawsuit does not involve him, 1MDB and the Malaysian government. Can I repeat that? He is correct. It really does not.

At this stage, the DOJ is only seeking to have the named assets seized. At this stage, its action is a civil suit and not a criminal one. When it goes to the next stage or, if necessary, the third stage, then its action may be a criminal suit.

The other mistake many seem to have made is the assertion that those assets were owned by 1MDB. They are not. They are owned by individuals. Not one of those assets is registered under 1MDB’s name.

The fact that a few of those individuals owning the assets were once employed by 1MDB and/or have had dealings with 1MDB and that one is related to this person does not make this person, 1MDB and the Malaysian government culpable - at least not at this stage.

The misconception that those assets were owned by 1MDB could be due to the phrase “1MDB-linked assets” that many reporters have used. But they are linked to 1MDB only by virtue of the fact that they have been acquired with money embezzled from the company. The link is so tenuous, so distant that it is irrelevant.

Next point. Although the employees of a company represent the particular company and thus their action can be construed as the action of the company, this principle does not apply here for the simple reason that a company cannot steal from itself.

If it is any consolation, one can take comfort in the knowledge that not one of those who have enabled, participated in, and/or served as accessories to the embezzlement will escape justice. If justice will not be served in Malaysia, it surely will be in other jurisdictions.

The so-called loan of US$700 million initially and supposedly extended by PetroSaudi International to 1MDB was nothing but nonsense. PetroSaudi International’s claim to owning rights to oilfields was utter rubbish - or it was at least in the case of the Serdar Field.

I have written about this last year, and so I shan’t repeat myself. Those investigators in other jurisdictions will not miss these first red flags - and that is, if they have not already noticed them.

Mushiro: Is Najib on a road trip to convince the world that he is innocent of 1MDB scandal? That the RM2.6 billion is an honest donation from an Arab prince? That he returned the bulk of the money?

That the many other millions that went into his personal bank account was without his knowledge, and thus he is not guilty?

That he has nothing to do with the millions in his stepson Riza Aziz's piggy bank. That he has no connection with the quiet fugitive and partyman Jho Low?

That all the assets locked down by DOJ in the US is due to Dr Mahathir Mohamad's jealously. That the DOJ and FBI were conned by the opposition and are trying to topple him? And that MO1 is not Najib?

CQ Muar: Despite your defence and denial, Najib, I doubt any decent and intelligent Malaysian will believe you. This is considering the many fabrications, cover-ups and lies pertaining to the source of the RM2.6 billion; how those billions ended up in your accounts and that the hefty sums were donations from Arabs.

Now that DOJ had divulged the truth where the billions hailed or originated from, what more can you say?

Obviously, the suit by DOJ could take some time to bring those responsible to book, but the truth will ultimately prevail. No one can escape this time around, and nothing can save you.

Cocomomo: The PM should order an open investigation to determine as to who is this MO1 that is bringing shame and dishonour to Malaysians.

Such an investigation will hopefully once and for all clear the questions and doubts in the minds of Malaysians.

This is especially needed as it is alleged that funds belonging to a Malaysian institution, 1MDB, has been fraudulently misappropriated. This is certainly a serious allegation.

Just Sharing: I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Maybe both. Laugh for such a stupidity and cry for the sorry state of my country.

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