Najib gets a ‘gift’ from Trump
FOR more than a year, Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia has been under the cloud of a corruption investigation by the US Department of Justice. Today, his scheduled visit to see President Donald Trump at the White House may give him a chance to offset the political damage.
The Justice Department had concentrated for more than a year on seizing $1.7 billion in assets, including jewellery, real estate and Hollywood movie rights, that it says Najib’s family members and associates acquired with money diverted from a Malaysian government fund that he headed.
But in August, the department indicated it would shift its focus to a criminal investigation into the missing money, which is estimated to total more than $3.5 billion. Officials say much of it was laundered through US financial institutions.
Now, Trump’s invitation to visit the White House comes at a perfect time for Najib and could give him a much-needed dose of legitimacy at home as a general election nears.
“It’s a big gift for him to have the White House invite him,” said Cynthia Gabriel, executive director of the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism in Kuala Lumpur, adding that she was “really flabbergasted” by the visit.
The two leaders played golf together a few years ago at Trump’s golf club in New Jersey. Trump signed a photo of the two of them together, “To my favourite prime minister”.
When they meet at the White House, they are expected to discuss the nuclear threat posed by North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jongun, as well as China’s growing influence in Southeast Asia. Trump needs an Asian ally who can help on both fronts.
For Najib, a White House handshake will show voters back home that he can set foot on US soil without being jailed, analysts and opposition members said.
“He can say, ‘I am not wanted in the United States and I can go there without being arrested,’” said Tony Pua, a member of parliament and a critic of Najib.
Simply avoiding arrest on a US visit might seem a low bar for a world leader.
But in Malaysia, the Justice Department investigation has undermined Najib’s assertions that nearly $681 million deposited in his personal bank accounts was a gift from an unnamed Saudi donor.
The Justice Department said last year that the source of $731 million in Najib’s accounts was actually the Malaysian government fund.
Najib has said he committed no wrongdoing. His office declined to comment.
“From a pure public relations point of view, it’s a meeting the White House should avoid,” said Donald Greenlees, an au- thority on Southeast Asia with Australian National University. “Even a photo op with Kim Jong-un would be better.”
Among those highlighted in the assets seizure cases are Najib, who is identified in court documents as “Malaysian Official 1”; his wife, Rosmah Mansor, who is renowned for her foreign shopping excursions; and his stepson, Riza Aziz, whose company, Red Granite Pictures, produced The Wolf of Wall Street and other films.
In the United States, Mansor may find it best not to wear jewellery that the Justice Department wants to seize, including her $27.3 million necklace with a 22-carat, pink diamond pendant, or the 27 gold necklaces and bracelets that she acquired in Los Angeles for $1.3 million.
Also caught up in the scandal are actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who received more than $12 million in art work, and model Miranda Kerr, who received more than $8 million in diamond jewellery. They received the items as gifts from Jho Low, a friend of Aziz who played a key role in establishing the Malaysian fund.
The department says the money used to acquire the property and luxury goods was diverted from One Malaysia Development Berhad, the investment fund that Najib headed.
Last month, the Justice Department filed a motion to stay the forfeiture cases so that they would not have “an adverse effect on the government’s ability to conduct the related criminal investigation”. A hearing is scheduled for September 18 in Los Angeles.
While Najib might wish for Trump to halt the Justice Department probe, that would seem unlikely given the department’s independence. After all, Trump has been unable to stop an investigation into Russian election meddling that is headed by Robert Mueller.
“This is a meeting of two leaders who both have legal problems, so it is bound to raise eyebrows,” said Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs in Kuala Lumpur. “If they have a one-on-one meeting, no one really knows what transpires in that session.”