KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak was greeted by a group of supporters singing 'Allah Selamatkan Kamu' (Allah save you) as he arrived at the court complex here early today to attend another one of his ongoing court cases involving the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) fiasco.
Dressed in a light blue suit, the former prime minister greeted and slowly walked past the group which lined up in two rows on the steps of the court entrance without showing any emotion.
Most of the 50-odd supporters were dressed in Barisan Nasional (BN) shirts and said they had come all the way from Terengganu to show their support for the Pekan member of parliament on the eve of his sentencing over the SRC International Sdn Bhd case.
Najib, who has all this while claimed his innocence over all charges thrown at him in connection with the 1MDB scandal after the fall of the BN government in the 14th General Election (GE14), faces a maximum 20-years' jail on each of the three charges of criminal breach of trust, one count of abuse of position, and a maximum of 15 years' jail on each of the three counts of money laundering.
He is also liable to be whipped and fined for the offences.
The 67-year old who celebrated his birthday last Thursday by cutting a cake at the entrance of the same court, was charged with abusing RM42 million of SRC International funds on April 3, 2019.
SRC International was a company formed under 1MDB but was later placed under the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) following Najib's approval.
In the course of the trial, witnesses testified on Najib's role in helping the company secure a RM4 billion loan from the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) and how money was layered through several other companies before RM42 million eventually ended in his personal bank accounts.
Najib, who has also testified under oath after being called to enter his defence in November last year, denied all the charges while all the while maintaining that he had no personal interest in SRC International which could be said to be in conflict with his public duty.
His lawyers have argued that the RM4 billion loan was endorsed, and ultimately approved by the KWAP investment panel on their own.
Najib, they contended, did whatever he had to do to help SRC International to secure the loan in the best interest of the government and Malaysia.
This was done as the company had plans to get involved in activities identified in the 10th Malaysia Plan and the New Energy Policy.
However, prosecution witnesses later testified that SRC International had nothing to show after getting the RM4 billion, which was eventually transferred overseas.
On the RM42 million which eventually ended in his personal bank accounts, Najib's defence team argued that the accused had no knowledge and was never involved in the transactions.
The flow of the money, they said, was at the behest of third parties for their own ulterior benefit and interests.
The prosecution, however, countered that Najib was all the while in control of his bank accounts, even communicating with fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho @ Jho Low whenever he needed to get his finances sorted out.
This included one time when Najib and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, found their credit cards not going through while they were purchasing millions worth of expensive stuff in Hawaii.
A total of 57 prosecution witnesses and 19 defence witnesses were called in the course of the trial, which took 100 days to complete.
In his opening statement, former Attorney General Tan Sri Tommy Thomas said the SRC International trial was just the first of many kleptocracy, 1MDB-linked prosecutions which Najib would face.
The former Umno president has since been slapped with several other criminal cases, including the SRC International trial, 1MDB audit tampering case, income tax evasion, criminal breach of trust charges involving government funds paid to International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC), and also the 1MDB trial itself.
Thomas had then pledged to prove the government's case beyond all reasonable doubt against the top politician ever to be prosecuted in Malaysia, a man who occupied the most powerful office in the land and wielded near absolute power while at the same time controlling the nation's purse.
If found guilty, Najib is set to be sentenced immediately after High Court Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali hears mitigation from lead defence counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and submissions from lead prosecutor Datuk V Sithambaram.
If a jail term is imposed, the defence can apply for a stay pending appeals to the Appeal Court and Federal Court.
The world's eyes will be on the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex in Jalan Duta here tomorrow to see if Najib walks free or faces the consequences of the 1MDB fallout which has hogged headlines all over since the story of how a sovereign wealth fund which spiralled out of control first broke.