KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition party DAP has trained its guns on Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Idrus Harun for meeting with representatives of fugitive businessmen Low Taek Jho or better known as Jho Low, who is reportedly seeking a settlement agreement with the government.
Several senior DAP leaders said the government risked undermining the damage done by the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal and disrupting the course of justice by negotiating with Low, who has been alleged to be the mastermind behind the financial fraud.
DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng said the AG’s presence during the deliberations shows the government’s supposed willingness to negotiate with criminals.
“Instead of hunting Jho Low down, Idrus should explain why the AGC is willing to meet with Jho Low’s representatives.
Is Idrus not sending the wrong message that Malaysia’s top law officer is willing to deal with crooks and wanted fugitives instead of steadfastly upholding the law without fear or favour?” he asked in a statement today.
Lim is also puzzled over Low’s supposed “considerable influence” in government circles, as the fugitive could engage with former AG Tan Sri Apandi Ali to act and arrange meetings with the AGC and unnamed government agencies on his behalf.
It was reported that Apandi was contacted in May this year by Kobre & Kim, the law firm representing Low.
Apandi then explained that he had arranged a series of meetings to discuss returning funds their client had allegedly taken from the national sovereign fund 1MDB.
However, he said that the AGC had then cancelled the meetings.
“Will Mohamad Apandi Ali clarify his relationship with Jho Low as well as explain the benefits he received from this relationship with Jho Low?” Lim continued to press.
Similarly, the party’s national legal bureau chairman Ramkarpal Singh also questioned Apandi’s relationship and whether the latter was even paid by Low for his supposed services in a separate statement.
“Any attempt to settle Low’s criminal cases in exchange for a sum of money can be a form of corruption, and Apandi must disclose if he was informed by Low’s representatives that this was Low’s intention.
“As Apandi was the AG at the height of the 1MDB scandal, who eventually cleared former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak of any wrongdoing in relation to the same, he ought not to have engaged with Low’s representatives but instead demanded his surrender.
Apandi should further disclose if he was paid for his services by Low. If he was paid by Low, the question arises as to whether the said payment was from 1MDB funds,” he said.
In January 2016, Apandi had said that no charges would be brought against Najib based on investigations carried out by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
He had explained then that he had studied the investigation papers and was satisfied that there were no grounds for action.
“Based on the facts and evidence as a whole, I, as the public prosecutor, am satisfied that no criminal offence has been committed by the prime minister in relation to the three investigation papers,” he said according to a report by Malaysiakini.
Apandi was panned by opposition lawmakers at the time for allegedly failing to uphold the rule of law and to act with impartiality on matters related to 1MDB.
Also weighing on the matter was party veteran and Iskandar Puteri MP Lim Kit Siang, who said Low’s attempt to seek a settlement agreement with the government, reportedly offering to pay back RM1.5 billion, is irrefutable proof of the magnitude of the scandal.
However, Kit Siang lamented that a former top officer of the government is allegedly aiding Low for this exact purpose.
“Now, we have a former attorney-general acting for Jho Low to settle the 1MDB charges against him, when this former AG should have prosecuted Jho Low when he was in office.
“When top leaders are unable to distinguish between right from wrong, what is the future of Malaysia?” he asked.
Low is often said to be the mastermind of the 1MDB financial scandal and is wanted by Malaysia over his role in looting at least US$4.5 billion (around RM20.2 million) from the development fund.
He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he was only acting as a middleman for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is currently appealing his conviction in the case involving former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd.
Former Goldman Sachs banker and alleged collaborator Roger Ng has been charged in the US court and was found guilty of corruption charges related to his role in helping to loot hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB.
The Vibes have reached out to Apandi and Kobre & Kim for further clarification.
Low was also accused of arranging with New York jeweller Lorraine Schwartz in 2013 to create a US$23 million (RM97.3 million) pink diamond necklace for Najib’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, prosecutors in Ng’s trial told a New York court in March.
Low was also charged in absentia in New York and Malaysia and has been on the run since the scandal came to light.
In July 2020, former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador had said that Low was hiding in Macau and that attempts to extradite him have failed as Chinese authorities appeared to be insincere about cooperating.
However, China denied protecting the wanted businessman, labelling Hamid’s accusations as groundless and unacceptable. – The Vibes, July 17, 2022
