The legal firm claiming to represent Paul Stadlen, the one-time media advisor to Najib Abdul Razak, has accused the Pakatan Harapan government of entangling their client in its political backlash against the former prime minister.
This comes after state newswire Bernama reported that the British national was charged in absentia at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court yesterday for laundering RM15 million.
In a statement today, prominent London law firm Mishcon de Reya managing partner Kevin Gold said they were “appalled” that the Malaysian government had leaked the news of the court action to the media.
They stressed that their client denied all wrongdoing.
"We are appalled by the actions of the Malaysian government, who today used the media to leak that Paul Stadlen will be charged in absentia, despite there being no such provision under Malaysian law.
"[...] The Malaysian government has a political agenda, and Stadlen is now caught up in the backlash against former prime minister Najib.
"Stadlen categorically denies any wrongdoing. Any charges will be strenuously resisted as the case against him is politically motivated and in breach of natural justice,” Gold said.
Firm: No response from authorities
The firm alleged that it previously attempted to contact Malaysian authorities about the case, but had been unsuccessful.
"Stadlen has not been in hiding.
“He first found out that the Malaysian authorities wanted to speak to him after they took the unusual step of releasing a media notice (picture, below) on Nov 1, 2018, seeking him as a witness.
“Following that, our firm immediately contacted the Malaysian authorities. Until now we have had no response,” Gold further claimed.
Malaysiakini is attempting to contact the MACC and the police for a response.
MACC previously said that Stadlen, who is a Malaysian permanent resident, had left the country before the May 9 general elections.
The 39-year-old formerly headed communications consultancy Apco Worldwide’s Malaysia office, and was alleged to have managed Najib’s public relations and press operations when the latter was in office.
'Masterminded' communications policies
In 2009, the then BN government paid Apco Worldwide RM77 million to manage Malaysia's image internationally. The contract was reportedly renewed in 2010 amid public outcry.
Whistleblower website Sarawak Report had alleged that Stadlen himself was paid millions of ringgit to mastermind a communications policy that resulted in the PMO's speedy statement on then PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's 2015 sodomy conviction.
The portal also alleged that Stadlen's firm was retained by the PMO at a minimum of RM3 million a year and was commissioned for a 1MDB-related project worth another RM1.5 million.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that he was part of the Prime Minister's Office's (PMO) national communications team back in 2013.
In 2015, however, the government denied that Stadlen had been hired as a government servant, and as such had not received any allowances, wages and remuneration from the government.
After his role in Apco, Stadlen also worked with FBC Media, a lobby group linked to a vicious online campaign against Anwar by the discredited US blogger Josh Trevino and his company, Rogue Communications.
Meanwhile, News Straits Times reported that Stadlen was charged on two counts of money laundering, with the first charge involving the 27 transactions totalling RM8,111,322.43 from a bank account of “a client of law firm Messrs Hafarizam Wan & Aisha Mubarak” to a company and several people between June 2014 and December 2014.
The second charge involved the transfer of RM6,139,078.34 from the same bank account in 16 transactions, also to a company and several people, between January 2015 and August 2015.
The report also said that MACC has since sought an arrest warrant for Stadlen.
