Name: Jonah James a/l manohram

Class: BLEI A26

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 – Section 23(1) – Public officer – Using office or
position for gratification – Ingredients – Accused Prime Minister and Minister of Finance – Whether
public officer – Government-linked company – Company owned and controlled by Minister of Finance
Incorporated – Whether Minister of Finance Incorporated personified by accused as Finance Minister –
Accused as Prime Minister and Advisor Emeritus of Company granted power by company's
Memorandum and Articles of Association to appoint or dismiss members of Board of Directors, and
control corporate and strategic decisions of company – Whether having overarching authority over
company – Whether having 'interest' in company – Company applying for RM4 billion loans from
Retirement Fund (Incorporated) – Loans approved following support by accused and guarantees provided
by Government – Company transferring monies into accused's personal bank accounts – Whether
constituting 'gratification' within meaning of s. 23(1) – Whether accused motivated by gratification in
participating in Government decision to grant guarantees to company – Nexus between Government
decision to grant guarantees and gratification – Whether needed to be proven – Whether accused suffering
from conflict of interest situation Government decision to grant guarantees – Presumption of existence of
'interest' – Whether applicable – Whether could be invoked against accused – Malaysian Anti-Corruption
Commission Act 2009,

The decision is noteworthy as it held the holder of Malaysia’s highest office guilty of all charges.
The decision dealt with laws relating to anti-corruption, criminal breach of trust, corporate
fiduciaries, anti-money laundering as well as evidential burdens relating to these complex fields.

Seven criminal charges were made against the former prime minister — three charges concerned
the offence of criminal breach of trust (CBT) under Section 409 of the Penal Code, three were
under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of
Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA) and, the last, of abuse of position for gratification under
Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009 (MACC Act).

The setting up of SRC International Sdn Bhd (SRC) under the Companies Act 1965 and the
manner in which funding of the same came from the Retirement Fund (Incorporated) or
Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP) and was backed by government
guarantees and how the funds from the same were deposited in the personal banking accounts of
Najib Razak formed the factual matrix upon which the judicial decision was pronounced.
 Name: Jonah James a/l manohram

Class: BLEI A26

The two key ingredients of any criminal charges that are required to convict an accused are the
proof of act and evidence of intention. For the prosecution to succeed, the burden of proof is
beyond reasonable doubt. For the defense to succeed, the involvement of the accused in the
alleged misconduct has to be rebutted.

The Court held the accused guilty of all seven charges and sentenced him to:

i. 12 years of imprisonment and a fine of RM210 million (in default, five years’ jail) for the
single charge under Section 23 of MACC Act for abuse of position for gratification; and
ii. 10 years of imprisonment for each of the three charges under CBT; and

iii. 10 years of imprisonment for each of the three money-laundering charges under Section 4
of AMLA.

The custodial sentences, given their intimate connection with each other, shall run concurrently.

The court permitted a stay of execution on recognized principles, given the presence of special
circumstances, there being novel points of law that may have yet received judicial consideration.

The judgment will be examined under the following headings.