Beleaguered former Malayian prime minister Najib Razak has been dealt yet another blow, after two of his defense lawyers withdrew themselves from his legal team.
Highly regarded prosecutor Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden and senior criminal lawyer M. Puravalen are the second round of lawyers to suddenly pull out of representing Najib. On May 21, Datuk Harpal Singh Grewal and M. Athimulan also resigned from the former PM’s legal team.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Puravalen would only say that it was a mutual decision to go their separate ways, and that it was “an amicable parting.”
Mohd Yusof’s comments to media were curter, though ostensibly more detailed, saying only: “I need to sleep now – it was a sleepless night for me yesterday.”
Disgraced formed PM Najib spent much of his second tenure in office dodging rumors of fund misappropriation from the state sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB. He reportedly narrowly escaped indictment after firing the Attorney General that was going to charge him, and managed to silence any detractors from within his Barisan Nasional party by freezing them out.
After a Mahathir-led opposition won a resounding victory in the 14th General Election, the investigation into Najib’s 1MDB doings has been re-opened by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). They are specifically interested in some funds made their way directly into Najib’s personal bank account.
Adding gravity to the saying that “Things will get worse before they get better,” Rosmah Mansor, Najib’s wife, is today being questioned by the MACC for her part in the disappearing 1MDB funds.
Last month, several raids across luxury condos in Kuala Lumpur turned up cold hard cash in several currencies, dozens and dozens of Hermes boxes believed to contain her beloved Birkin bags, as well as jewelry.
Can’t imagine why anyone would want to run far, far away from defending this case. Hmm.
