‘Peculiar time for Najib to come out with defence’

KUALA LUMPUR: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang said former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is making an unprecedented move of conducting a pre-trial defence through the media.

“Najib is making the unprecedented step of conducting a pretrial defence through the media, although he objected to a trial by media, with the most novel and unbelievable claim that the US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) in his personal accounts were ‘contingency funds’ from the king of Saudi Arabia, allegedly channelled through what he claimed was one of the latter’s companies, Tanore Finance Corporation,” Lim said.

Lim said this was the “most peculiar time” for Najib to come out with such a defence when the public could find answers on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) conundrum through two books, Clare Rewcastle-Brown’s The Sarawak Report: the Inside Story of the 1MDB Expose and Billion Dollar Whale by Wall Street Journal journalists Tom Wright and Bradley Hope.

He said he met MCA president Datuk Wee Ka Siong at the Subang Airport lounge and showed him a copy of Billion Dollar Whale.

“I was surprised that he (Wee) showed the least interest in the book on how a Penangite ‘fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and the World’, as well as 30 million Malaysians, as if he knew all along about the enormity of the 1MDB scandal, as well as the financial scams and scandalous escapades of 1MDB mastermind Jho Low,” said Lim, adding that former Barisan Nasional leaders should read the books.

Lim also said MCA, Umno, BN and Pas could kiss their future goodbye if the leadership was not prepared to apologise and repent for aiding and abetting Najib in the 1MDB corruption and moneylaundering scandal.

Wee had previously said BN could bid farewell to forming the government if there was an Umno-Pas cooperation.

“Wee has the least political credibility to forecast the future or he would not have entered into an MCA-Umno-Pas unholy alliance in the recent Balakong and Seri Setia by-elections,” Lim said.