Loke slams Najib’s ‘irresponsible’ denial on graft claims

Najib would not have been charged with money laundering if the funds were not alleged to have been obtained illegally.

(FMT) – DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook has criticised Najib Razak’s claim that he had not been accused of stealing in his corruption trials, but only of money laundering, from which he did not benefit.

Loke wondered if the former prime minister thought Malaysians were fools in making such a claim.

He said Najib would not have been charged with money laundering if the funds were not alleged to have been obtained illegally.

“So, for him to say it (money laundering) is not a form of corruption is irresponsible. He thinks he is innocent,” he said during a talk show streamed online last night.

Najib had made the claim during the Barisan Nasional convention earlier this month, where he also alleged that he was a victim of political persecution in his ongoing trials related to 1MDB.

Najib is standing trial for 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

In March, he sued Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin for defamation after the Hang Tuah MP claimed that he had stolen RM2.6 billion in 1MDB funds to support his lifestyle.

In denying Shamsul’s claims, Najib said that despite what had been proven in court, the opposition had continued to push its propaganda that he had stolen the sum to purchase rings and handbags.

“They will not admit that I have been sued under Amla (the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001) and neither stolen nor robbed (from 1MDB), and the funds have been returned to the sender,” he said.