However, he insisted that the team of deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) was carrying out its duties based on “politically motivated charges”.
“The (investigation) process was not done correctly, and you did nothing to rectify it,” Najib said after DPP Ahmad Akram Gharib questioned the former prime minister’s repeated claims that he was a victim of “political persecution”.
Akram: Do you have proof that DPPs Mustafa P Kunyalam, Nadia Izhar, T Deepa Nair, Najwa Bistamam and I had any vendetta against you?
Najib: Like I said before, the investigating officer recommended that I be charged before she recorded my statement and listened to my explanation.
Najib said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also recently admitted that the prosecution of several cases following the 2018 general election was flawed and had been rushed.
Akram countered by saying that the prime minister had made a general remark and had not made any specific reference to the cases brought against Najib or anyone else.
In response, Najib said that only he and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi were charged in 2018.
“He could not have been referring to anyone else,” Najib added.
Zahid, who was Najib’s deputy, was slapped with 47 charges of corruption, money laundering and criminal breach of trust. However, he was given a discharge after the prosecution discontinued his case.
Ex-deputy public prosecutor called me, says Najib
Najib also admitted under cross-examination to speaking to former DPP Dzulkifli Ahmad via telephone sometime in 2016, saying Dzulkifli had called him.
Akram then suggested that Dzulkifli was “updating” Najib on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigations against the ex-prime minister.
“He (Dzulkifli) said you should know that the MACC had recommended charges against you and that he would be ‘handling’ the matters.
“You shouldn’t have listened to him in the first place,” Akram said.
In reply, Najib said he never interfered with the investigations.
The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Jan 22.
Najib is charged with 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.