Najib Razak’s apology over the 1MDB scandal shows that the former prime minister was a victim of trickery by other parties in the scandal, says Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.
In a statement today, Asyraf said Najib’s apology for his “unintended mistake” shows his “noble and pure personality, and undivided love for the people and country”.
Umno is certain that the statement comes from a pure conscience, expressing Najib’s sincere feelings.
“The party and all its members pray to Allah that truth and justice will be upheld and the true mastermind in the SRC International and 1MDB cases will be brought to justice as soon as possible,” said Asyraf.
In his apology, Najib said he had reflected on the 1MDB fiasco over the past 26 months, and it pained him that it happened when he was the prime minister and finance minister.
“I would like to apologise unreservedly,” he said in a statement read out by his son, Nizar, at the lobby of the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex yesterday.
Najib also denied being the mastermind or collaborating with fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, in the scheme…..
“Being held legally responsible for the things that I did not initiate or knowingly enable is unfair to me and I hope and pray that the judicial process will, in the end, prove my innocence.”
Najib has unreservedly apologised …. for being defrauded.
In doing so, he is following an established rule for all criminals perhaps most famously expressed by the mafia lawyer Roy Cohn in the United. States (known as an early mentor of another politician in trouble with the law, Donald Trump).
Cohn’s key maxim was “Deny, Deny, Deny… Admit Nothing”. And it works with people who are disposed to believe you, as UMNO are disposed to believe their former leader.
But, for those who have followed the facts, the impossibility of Najib’s claim that he was an innocent who was tricked by Jho Low and knew nothing of his thefts is plain to see.
Because if this was the case there is one key question Najib must answer, but never has. Why did he conceal the role Jho Low played behind the scenes at 1MDB?
Instead of admitting Jho Low’s involvement, Najib concurred in the claim that Jho Low had ceased to have any advisory role following the dissolution of the Terengganu Investment Authority. Meanwhile, Najib was using Jho Low to communicate with the board and with all the parties to the deals in which 1MDB. Why did he do this with such utter secrecy?
If Najib was acting in good faith why was Jho Low not formally appointed and made accountable like everybody else? Instead, all his communications with the management at the fund, the bankers at Goldman Sachs, the collaborators at PetroSaudi and Aabar and indeed Najib were treated as a deadly secret. Jho was Najib’s shadow proxy at 1MDB and everybody knew it. Never once did Najib countermand what Jho Low had told executives was to be done.
Acting under his monikers such as DealRainmaker1@ Jho would communicate by secret BBM and tell all parties to only bcc him on emails and to delete communications. In this manner he drew up all 1MDB’s plans in the name of having agreed them with the PM.
COE Shahrol Halmi has testified to this manner of “working in silos” with Jho Low bringing instructions from the PM/FM as the chief decision maker at the fund.
If this had been untrue and if these plans had subsequently landed on the desk of the PM as a total surprise why on earth would Najib have signed them off (thereby steering huge sums into his own and his family’s bank accounts) as opposed to ringing up the CEO and asking what the hell was going on?
Even if Najib had signed the papers without looking, he soon heard about the consequences in terms of billion dollar joint ventures, meetings with government dignatories and investments he needed to have signed off on. If he had known nothing about these ventures and had never collaborated with Jho Low to promote the actions of the 1MDB management he would surely have been absolutely shocked.
Instead, we know he was working with Jho Low (the pictures say it all). He was using the youthful intermediary to instruct the board at arms length to carry out the deals on his instructions. And he wanted that kept secret.
These are not the actions of an innocent party, even if Jho also took advantage of his position to pull the wool over Najib’s eyes to make extra money for himself. Corrupt leaders are ALWAYS cheated by their agents – they learn from their masters in the respect.