The Malaysian Insight

PRIME ministers, corporate figures, and even underworld bosses gravitated towards Shafee Abdullah, believing that even during the worst of times, the lawyer would have one argument or  gambit that would win the case for them.

Most of the time, he delivered, burnishing his reputation and earning millions of ringgit in the process.

Perception is everything, sometimes, and Shafee benefited from the perception that he walked the corridors of power.

And the lawyer was happy to cultivate the image, dropping names and letting everyone, from judges to friends, know that he was on an errand for a prime minister. 

Apparently, he was on such a mission for the Najib administration just before the fall of the Barisan Nasional government. 

He led a small team to the United States to try and resolve the festering sore for Najib Razak called the “Department of Justice investigation into 1Malaysia Development”.

While the trip ended in failure, it  served to reinforce Shafee’s reputation as Najib’s go-to guy.

Shafee was called to the Malaysian Bar on April 26, 1985. Prior to that, he served in the Attorney-General’s Chambers for seven years as deputy public prosecutor, federal counsel, departmental solicitor to the official administrator, and public trustee Malaysia.

In 2014, he was appointed by then A-G Abdul Gani Patail to lead the prosecution appealing the acquittal of Anwar Ibrahim in the Sodomy II trial. Anwar’s acquittal was overturned and Shafee earned the wrath of the Malaysian Bar when he went on a road trip after the trial to discuss the case. 

He was referred to the Advocates & Solicitors Disciplinary Board. Shafee sued the Malaysian Bar but lost the case.

He was also one of the lawyers for Abdul Razak Baginda in the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu. 

Shafee has also defended crime lord Koo Tee Yam, who controlled most of the underworld activities in Kuala Lumpur namely loan sharking, pirated discs and goods, prostitution, drugs, illegal gambling and murder. Shafee got him released from the detention centre in Simpang Renggam.

Shafee was in the news again when he appeared for Najib who was charged with money laundering, criminal breach of trust, and power abuse, in relation to RM42 million that was found to have been deposited into his bank account from SRC International, then a subsidiary of 1MDB.

In court today, Shafee was charged with money laundering and tax evasion linked to payments totalling RM9.5 million he had received from Najib.

He said the accusations levelled at him were unwarranted and that he was being victimised.

The charges are a nuisance, an inconvenience to this influential lawyer. 

If the government proves its case, he will have to return the ill-gotten gains. 

But the case in itself is not a career-killer. 

What will hurt his career deeply will be the perception that he no longer enjoys special status with the PH government.

The droves of the famous and the infamous who had sought his help would surely hesitate to engage someone in the crosshairs of the new government.

At least, that would be the perception. –  September 13, 2018.