Datuk Seri Najib Razak apologized publicly to the Malaysian people regarding the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case that occurred during his tenure as Prime Minister (PM) and Minister of Finance of Malaysia.
Najib Razak's open apology was stated in a statement read by his son, Datuk Mohamad Nizar at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex, Thursday, October 24.
Najib said that while serving his sentence for the last 26 months while continuing to follow various significant developments related to the 1MDB case, he felt very hurt every day knowing that all frauds in the company occurred when he was under the supervision of himself as Minister of Finance and Prime Minister.
"There is nothing else I can say but to apologize publicly to all Malaysians," Najib said as quoted by ANTARA.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a fine of RM210 million (around Rp750 billion) for cases of abuse of power, money laundering, and violations of criminal trust in the SRC International case involving funds amounting to RM42 million (around Rp149 billion).
But the Federal Territory Amnesty Council in February 2024 agreed to reduce Najib's prison sentence to six years and reduce the fine to RM50 million (around Rp177.5 billion).
Currently Najib is also facing four charges in court related to abuse of power to accept RM2.3 billion in bribes from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering in the same amount.
Najib said in a recent court hearing and a guilty verdict over the case that befell PetroSaudi executives in a Swiss court, as well as the latest articles published by The Edge, based on their analysis of the case as well as PetroSaudi's internal email, once again proved that he was not the mastermind and not Jho Low's accomplice to embezzle 1MDB funds.
He further said a summary of articles published in The Edge stated that PetroSaudi and Jho Low conspired to deceive him.
"I didn't realize that PetroSaudi had transferred 1MDB funds and I didn't immediately know that I had received money from funds sent by 1MDB to PetroSaudi," Najib said.
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While it may be difficult for some to understand it, he said he had been told and honestly believed at the time the funds he received were political contributions from the Government of Saudi Arabia.
"As stipulated in the court process, there were indeed two major donations that were confirmed to be received in 2010 from the Government of Saudi Arabia. These donations have never been the subject of criminal or civil processes," he said.
When concerns arose and various parties began to question what happened in 1MDB, he said he should have taken different actions.
"I have ordered various investigations to be carried out but I tend to believe the explanation given by the board of directors and management of 1MDB," said Najib.
He said that when he was first suspicious of what actually happened at 1MDB, his main concern was efforts to restore his financial position and the risks he posed to diplomatic and bilateral relations at the highest level.
Najib said that he had also been politically punished even though what was clear was that he was not the mastermind behind all 1MDB internal irregularities and had never even colluded with Jho Low.
So, I should not be a victim from a legal point of view. I am still very surprised to know about the corruption, immoral acts and violations of the law that occurred in 1MDB," Najib said in a statement also uploaded to his Facebook account.
Najib admitted that he was very sorry for what happened at SRC International and 1MDB.
"But taking legal responsibility for things that are not done or consciously known, is unfair to him and I hope and pray that the justice process will benefit me and prove that I am innocent," said Najib.
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