‘Ex-PM remitted, received money for unlawful activities’

KUALA LUMPUR: Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, lead prosecutor in Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s corruption trial, told the High Court that the prosecution would establish that the former prime minister had remitted and received money for unlawful activities.

Tommy, in his opening statement, said the prosecution would prove that the accused had engaged in money laundering by receiving RM27 million on or around Dec 26, 2014, in his account and had later remitted the money to Permai Binraya Sdn Bhd for an unlawful activity.

He said the prosecution team would also prove that the accused had on or about Dec 26, 2014, engaged in money laundering by receiving RM5 million, as proceeds of an unlawful activity, and remitted the amount to a company account under Putra Perdana Construction Sdn Bhd on or about Dec 29, 2014.

Tommy said the prosecution would also prove that Najib had engaged in laundering RM10 million on Feb 10, 2015.

“Evidence will also establish that in December 2014, the accused’s credit card was charged US$130,625 (about RM533,028) for expenses made at Chanel, an exclusive fashion store in Honolulu, and that the personal cheques were issued for, among others, payment for renovation works carried out at the accused’s residence at No. 11 Jalan Langgak Duta, Kuala Lumpur, and in Pekan, Pahang,” he said, adding that cheques were also issued to various Barisan Nasional component parties.