Najib admits limited corporate experience before entering politics

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak told the High Court here today that his experience in corporate governance was minimal before embarking on his political career.

During his re-examination by lead counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Najib said he did not consider himself a corporate expert, emphasising that he saw himself more as a politician and later as someone in government.

"I was more of a politician and somebody in government, more akin to looking at overall government policy and execution of policy. I was never really involved in corporate per se," Najib said, adding that he would consider himself a full-time politician.

Najib entered politics in 1976, succeeding his late father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, as the Member of Parliament for Pekan, Pahang, at the age of 23.

The former prime minister was released from the witness stand today after Muhammad Shafee concluded his re-examination in the trial over the alleged misappropriation of RM2.3 billion from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Since the defence trial began on Dec 2 last year, Najib, 71, has spent 26 days on the stand, presenting a 678-page witness statement spanning four volumes.

He has undergone examination-in-chief and re-examination by Muhammad Shafee, while cross-examination by multiple deputy public prosecutors, including Kamal Baharin Omar and Ahmad Akram Gharib.

The defence also called former Kuala Lumpur High Court Senior Assistant Registrar Catherine Nicholas to confirm appeal records related to Najib and former 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy's 1MDB audit tampering trial. The trial was previously overseen by Justice Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, who is now a Court of Appeal judge.

Muhammad Shafee also informed Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah that 25 more witnesses, including company directors, lawyers and individuals who allegedly accompanied Najib to meet a Saudi monarch in 2010, would be called to testify.

On Oct 30 last year, Justice Sequerah ordered Najib to enter his defence after ruling that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against him.

Najib faces 25 charges, including four counts of using his position to receive RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds as bribes and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

The trial will resume on Feb 10.

-- BERNAMA