Justo to plead guilty, jail next week, says lawyer

Xavier Andre Justo will plead guilty to stealing documents and blackmailing PetroSaudi International which had a joint venture with 1MDB. – Photo courtesy of Royal Thai Police, August 14, 2015.

Swiss national Xavier Andre Justo, who was arrested in Thailand last June and faces charges of blackmailing his former employer, is pleading guilty, and could be jailed as early as next week, his lawyer told Singapore's The Straits Times (ST).

"He is pleading guilty, so there will not be a full hearing with witnesses, because the verdict is already done," Geneva-based lawyer Dr Marc Henzelin, appointed by Justo's wife in Switzerland, told ST after visiting Justo in Bangkok this week.

Justo, 48, had confessed to stealing digital documents from PetroSaudi International, which had a joint venture with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the company at the centre of a financial scandal that has seen several arrests in Malaysia and triggered a Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last month.

In an interview with ST last month, Justo said he did not get the promised payment in exchange for the documents, information which led to media exposure over the 1MDB-PetroSaudi International joint venture.

This was confirmed by The Edge Media Group's owner Datuk Tong Kooi Ong and its group CEO Ho Kay Tat, who said they deliberately misled Justo into giving them the documents, which they now have handed over to Malaysian police.

Henzelin told ST that Justo could be jailed between six months and two years.

"The fact that he pleads guilty will be a mitigating circumstance. The fact that he collaborated with the police and made confessions will be taken into consideration by the judge.

“This has to be pleaded by the Thai lawyer and I'm sure he will," he said, adding that Justo may consider returning some 90GB of stolen data to PetroSaudi which could further help his mitigation plea.

Justo could choose to serve a part of his jail sentence in Switzerland, which has a treaty with Thailand, should he be jailed less than a year, the lawyer added.

Malaysian police have been trying to get access to Justo as part of investigations into 1MDB.

However, yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said there was "no hurry" to meet Justo.

"We haven't decided whether we want to record his statement or not, let the Thai police carry out their duties, then we will decide whether we want to record his statement," he said.

- TMI