Najib, Trump meet amid 1MDB probe
KUALA LUMPUR: When Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak meets former golf partner Donald Trump in the White House, the elephant in the room will be a US criminal probe of an investment fund linked to Mr Najib.
While ties between the countries are solid, there are points of strain for the two leaders. One wrinkle is a Department of Justice investigation into alleged money laundering and embezzlement at stateowned 1Malaysia Development Bhd. The 1MDB probe, which began during Barack Obama’s administration, has focused global scrutiny on the Malaysian government’s business dealings under Mr Najib, in power since 2009.
Trade is another potential sore spot, with Mr Trump withdrawing the US from a Pacific pact that Malaysia is a member of and criticising nations running a trade deficit with the US — with Malaysia in that club. Mr Najib in turn has sought recently to boost trade and investment ties with China.
“Mr Trump is aware of 1MDB but will probably downplay the issue and isn’t likely to address it publicly,” said Ahmad Martadha Mohamed, an associate professor at Universiti Utara Malaysia. “There are more important things on the agenda to discuss such as the growing influence of China in the Southeast Asian region and the threat of Islamic State.”
Wong Chin Huat, head of political studies at the Penang Institute, said Mr Najib’s visit wouldn’t change anything in the 1MDB probe. “President Trump cannot control the DOJ in its investigation,” he said.
Still, in meeting Mr Najib at the White House, Mr Trump is giving him a nod of approval in the international arena.
The Justice Department (DOJ) last month asked a judge to put on hold a dozen-plus civil forfeiture lawsuits seeking more than US$1 billion (33.1 billion baht) in assets in the US, Britain and Switzerland while it looked into 1MDB funds. The targeted assets are from Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho and Mr Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz, among others.
The US probe is part of a global effort to track how much of the $6 billion that 1MDB raised for development projects was allegedly embezzled or laundered. Mr Najib, who until last year chaired 1MDB’s advisory board, has denied any wrongdoing and was cleared by Malaysia’s attorney-general.
Possible witnesses to the alleged looting from 1MDB are too scared to talk, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. People in “certain foreign countries” assisting the probe are concerned for their safety, while others say it’s too dangerous to cooperate, according to an FBI request to keep the names of informants secret from the alleged masterminds of the 1MDB conspiracy.
Mr Trump looks forward to speaking with Mr Najib on a range of topics including maritime security and counter-terrorism, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. She added she would not comment on 1MDB given the ongoing DOJ probe, adding “that investigation is apolitical, and certainly independent of anything taking place tomorrow.”
Mr Trump’s focus on countries running a trade deficit with the US may also put Malaysia under the spotlight. The Southeast Asian nation had a $24.8 billion goods deficit with the US in 2016, the ninthlargest imbalance among US trading partners. Imports and exports between the two countries totalled $48.5 billion last year.
Negotiations for a free-trade pact between the countries stalled a decade ago amid Malaysia’s reluctance to open its rice market and increase access to state contracts. Malaysia had pushed to join the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Mr Trump has abandoned, and Mr Najib said last week there was a possibility the deal could go on minus the US.
Still, Mr Najib also said Malaysia remained open to a bilateral agreement with the US and would begin preliminary discussions on whether it could still be pursued and what time frame it would entail.