KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak admitted to having full control and authority over transactions in his AmBank account, the High Court ruled.
Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah said neither fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, former 1MDB director Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, nor Najib's former principal private secretary, the late Datuk Azlin Alias, had any control over Najib's account.
He said according to the accused's statement, he had the knowledge as to the transactions that took place and the purposes for which it was intended.
"The accused stated pursuant to an event dubbed as "peristiwa 916" (on Sept 16, 2008), there was a need for him to find political funding to avoid any members of parliament from Barisan Nasional (BN) from jumping ship to another party and thus causing him to lose political power.
"This admission by the accused lent credence to the evidence of (former chief secretary to the government) Tan Sri Sidek Hassan who testified that 1MDB was initiated as a political fund for BN.
"Najib's former aide Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazarudin's evidence also reiterated the fact that 1MDB was used as a fund for the accused's political purposes.
"The evidence has shown that the accused could not have obtained the funds were it not for his positive action with regard to 1MDB in which he had vested interests," he said in his judgment at the end of the prosecution case today.
Meanwhile, Sequerah noted that the accused's actions brought no benefits to the government, nor did they result in any interest or advantage accruing to it.
"This court therefore finds that a prima facie case has been made out against the accused in respect of all the four abuse of power charges and calls upon the accused to make his defence," he said.
Najib, 71, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
He was charged under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, which provides for imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of up to five times the amount or value of the bribe, or RM10,000, whichever is higher, if found guilty.
For the 21 charges of money laundering, Najib is accused of committing the offences between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.
All these charges are under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act, which carries a maximum fine of RM5 million and imprisonment of up to five years, or both, upon conviction.