KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak has secured the services of former United States attorney-general (AG) John Ashcroft and veteran Us lawyer David Boies as part of his legal team against an intensifying probe into the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
According to a report by news portal The Malaysian Insight, Najib was compelled to seek the services of these US star lawyers after he stepped down as prime minister following the historic 14th General Election (GE14).
The article noted that this development was significant in light of his purported immunity from criminal prosecution when he was premier even as the US Department of Justice (DOJ) probed alleged siphoning of funds from 1MDB.
Ashcroft, who had a stint as governor of US state Missouri, became AG from 2001 to 2005 during the George W. Bush presidency.
He oversaw the DOJ following the terror attacks on US soil on Sept 11, 2001.
Four years later he resigned as AG and formed influential lobbying firm The Ashcroft Group and afterwards established The Ashcroft Law Firm.
According to the report, the legal firm had registered Najib as client on the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) register in September last year.
It said that Najib was listed as prime minister of Malaysia, under the category of financed by a foreign government/foreign political party and foreign principal.
Meanwhile, Boies is a star litigator whose resume encompasses US legal battles involving the AIG and Enron financial scandals and the Microsoft antitrust case.
The article cited sources saying that the US legal team acting for Najib also includes Matthew Schwartz, who was New York prosecutor for a decade and during that time had been involved in probes against Bernie Madoff, who was embroiled in a ponzi scheme scandal.
The article said that these lawyers would arrive in the Malaysian capital soon.
