KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said recent criminal charges against Datuk Seri Najib Razak were “desperate charges” by the authorities.
Speaking after the proceeding, Najib’s lead counsel said the charges were not well-thought and the thinking process was not “full”.
“The charges don’t go any deeper than that and that clearly shows that the authorities are desperate by bringing up charges related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) so that they can fulfil their general election manifesto.
“If you notice very clearly, the USD651 million is the subject matter in this charges.
“I do not think they realised this but in the same charges, it also shows that he (Najib) had transferred back the money after the 2013 general election.
“This clearly indicates that the accusation that he (Najib) kept the money (USD651 million) is not true.
“He had returned most of the funds to the same account that gave the money to him after the 13th General Election in 2013 beginning from June, July, and August,” he said.
“He returned it voluntarily because he had no more use of the money after the election was over,” he said.
When asked about the recently launched book related to 1MBD – “Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World”, written by Bradley Hope and Nicholas T. Wright – Shafee said he was excited as the book could prove his client’s innocence.
“The book says that most likely businessman Low Taek Jho had in fact misled the people, including Najib. If the book can be presented as evidence, it will be very interesting,” Shafee said.