Testifying in his 1MDB trial, Najib said the collaboration saw the US department of justice (DoJ) bringing a civil forfeiture action to recover more than US$1 billion in assets linked to 1MDB in 2016.
It also resulted in the US authorities refusing to provide key documents which would help his defence in the present case, he said.
He said the DoJ wanted to protect this “exculpatory evidence” as it would directly rebut allegations raised in the civil forfeiture suit filed in 2016.
“I also believe this forfeiture action was politically motivated and orchestrated as part of a collaboration between the US Democratic Party and the then-opposition party (coalition) in order to effect a regime change in Malaysia.
“I further believe that this collaboration was the key motive in obstructing my access to the exculpatory evidence as it would undermine their narrative and expose the untruths in their allegations against me,” Najib told the court during his RM2.28 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering trial today.
In July 2016, then US attorney-general Loretta Lynch announced the filing of civil forfeiture complaints in the US to recover over US$1 billion in assets laundered through the US and traceable to 1MDB.
According to the complaints, more than US$3.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were allegedly misappropriated between 2009 and 2015 by high-level 1MDB officials and their associates.
Pakatan Harapan, the opposition coalition in 2016, now leads the current unity government.
Last Friday, Najib testified that he filed a discovery application in 2021 at the US district court for the southern district of New York to obtain documents used in the 1MDB trial of former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, who was handed a 10-year prison term for corruption last year.
Najib said it was revealed during the course of Ng’s trial in New York that Goldman Sachs and the investment bank’s former Southeast Asia head, Timothy Leissner, were in possession of “exculpatory evidence” which would favour the former prime minister in his Malaysian cases.
That request, however, was opposed by both the US prosecutors and Ng in April, leaving Najib without access to evidence that he said may clear his name.
Najib said the DoJ contended that granting his request could potentially jeopardise its prosecution strategy and the confidentiality of witnesses and evidence related to the 1MDB case.
“Most importantly, the DoJ confirmed the existence of exculpatory evidence referenced to by Ng’s counsel, but the DoJ maintained that allowing me access to this exculpatory evidence would undermine ongoing investigations and prosecutions,” he said.
Najib is facing 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving alleged 1MDB funds of RM2.28 billion deposited in his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.