Prosecution Najib Can T Claim He Was Duped Jho Low Acted As His Proxy In 1mdb And Arranged Family Holidays

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Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is pictured at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Complex June 20, 2025. — Picture by Sayuti ZainudinPUTRAJAYA, Oct 30 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak cannot claim that he was fooled by Low Taek Jho — better known as Jho Low — in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, the prosecution said today.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P Kunyalam said the evidence in Najib’s 1MDB trial showed that Low had arranged private holidays for the then prime minister, and that Low had also managed 1MDB’s financial dealings.
Mustaffa said this was not a “coincidence”, and that it showed Najib’s “reliance, sanction, and trust in Jho Low”.
He said former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu’s BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) text messages had also shown Low had been handling Najib’s banking transactions.
“Why should an outsider like Jho Low meddle in someone’s private banking affairs?” Mustaffa said during Najib’s 1MDB trial.
Mustaffa said Najib had entrenched Low in both his personal and official dealings, instead of distancing himself from Low.
“The only reasonable inference is that Jho Low functioned as the accused’s conduit, proxy, and indispensable facilitator in the affairs of 1MDB,” he said, referring to Najib as the accused.
Mustaffa pointed out that no action was taken against Low from 2009 until 2018 when Najib lost political power. Najib lost the 14th general election in 2018.
“So can the accused now claim he was duped by Jho Low? The answer is a straight no,” he said.

Mustaffa highlighted multiple examples of Low’s role and involvement, including him being present in November 2009 in Najib’s Four Seasons hotel suite when the then prime minister had met Goldman Sachs officials to discuss 1MDB’s future investments. — Bernama file pic
Mustaffa highlighted multiple examples of Low’s role and involvement, including him being present in November 2009 in Najib’s Four Seasons hotel suite when the then prime minister had met Goldman Sachs officials to discuss 1MDB’s future investments.
Mustaffa said Low had arranged yacht holidays for Najib and his family three times: in August 2009, and in July and August 2010 in Greece and Italy, and in Southern France in July 2013.
He said Low had on September 26, 2009 handed a mobile phone to 1MDB’s then chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh, where Najib was on the line, before the start of a 1MDB board meeting.
Mustaffa noted Najib had credited Low for the Saudi king’s January 2010 award of the highest civilian title to him.
He also said that local financial daily The Edge’s publisher Tan Sri Tong Kooi Ong had in March 2015 met with Najib to warn him about Low’s shenanigans. 
Despite the red flags raised, Low continued to play a role in 1MDB matters without any action taken against him, he said.
Earlier, Mustaffa said 1MDB was a “bizarre” case, as he cited the late former 1MDB lead prosecutor Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram’s quip that 1MDB was run like a “coffeeshop”.
“If everything was run tightly according to corporate standards, we wouldn’t be here. Funds wouldn’t flow elsewhere and wouldn’t end up in the accused’s AmBank account,” Mustaffa said.
Mustaffa added that the mess in the management of 1MDB’s affairs was intentional.
Mustaffa said Bakke’s 2009 resignation should have triggered a clean-up of the 1MDB mess, but noted Bakke had testified in court that Najib did not reply to his SMS about the resignation.
In this trial, Najib is facing 25 charges, including in relation to over RM2 billion of 1MDB’s funds entering his personal bank accounts.
Najib’s 1MDB trial resumes tomorrow, with 1MDB trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah to deliver his decision at a later date on whether Najib is guilty of the 25 charges against him.

- malaymail

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