Shame on the country? Najib points a finger at the Mahathir era forex scandal
Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak rejected judge Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil's assessment that his actions in the SRC International case were not a service to the country, but rather a disgrace to Malaysia.
Najib raised the foreign exchange (forex) trading scandal in the 90s which was linked to his political enemy Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he became prime minister for the first time.
"Isn't that more embarrassing for the country," Najib asked in an online press conference after the Court of Appeal upheld his guilty verdict.
He said that throughout his career, he has always focused on the interests of the country.
For example, he said, during his tenure as prime minister, the country's assets grew from RM800 billion to RM2 trillion.
"I have created a lot of wealth for this country," he said.
According to the royal commission of inquiry into the matter, Bank Negara lost RM31.5 billion from 1992 to 1994.
The RCI, which was set up by Najib's third prime minister, also ruled that Mahathir was also responsible for the loss.
Three Court of Appeal judges agreed to dismiss Najib's appeal
The Court of Appeal today upheld the conviction of Najib Razak who is accused of being involved in cases of abuse of power, breach of trust and money laundering of SRC International Sdn Bhd (SRC) funds.
The three judges also agreed to uphold the 12-year prison sentence and a RM210 million fine against the former prime minister.
The three -judge panel chaired by Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil unanimously rejected Najib's appeal to quash an earlier decision in the Kuala Lumpur High Court.
During the hybrid proceedings this morning, Najib's face looked calm when the verdict was read out by Abdul Karim.
The other two judges who heard the application were Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera and Has Zanah Mehat.
Earlier, Najib applied to set aside the Kuala Lumpur High Court's decision on July 28 last year which found him guilty of one charge of abuse of office as prime minister, three charges of criminal breach of trust, and three charges of money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC funds.