KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today said the RM60 million he had received in 2011 in his personal AmIslamic bank account was a donation from the late Saudi ruler King Abdullah.
Najib said this while testifying as the first defence witness in his trial involving 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) RM2 billion, which was alleged to have entered his personal bank accounts.
Najib said he had told the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) during 1MDB investigations that he believed that the RM60,629,839.93 transfers from Prince Faisal bin Turki bin Bandar Al-Saud and Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Saud to him were donations from the late Saudi ruler King Abdullah — either from his funds or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s funds.
Before the RM60 million entered his bank account, Najib said he was personally informed by King Abdullah during a private meeting in 2010 — through interpreters — of the late Saudi ruler’s intention to support him financially.
“I have also received letters confirming this Saudi Arabian donation from King Abdullah through his royal representatives which were extended to AmBank and Bank Negara.
“It was on this basis and on the suggestion of my private secretary, Datuk Azlin for me to open a bank account to receive these personal political donations that I agreed to open up accounts at AmIslamic Bank Berhad under my personal name,” he said when reading out his 525-page witness statement at the High Court here.
The late Datuk Azlin Alias was Najib’s principal private secretary.
“At the meeting with King Abdullah, I was told specifically that I would be assisted in my coming general election to ensure that I would be returned as the prime minister to the government of the day. I understood this to be financial assistance.
“Further, I understood at this meeting that I would have to open private personal accounts. Later, on a different date, I was informed by Jho Low that His Majesty King Abdullah would be donating about US$1 billion,” he said, referring to Malaysian fugitive Low Taek Jho.
Najib said Prince Faisal and Prince Saud had sent RM60 million via the Riyadh Bank of Saudi Arabia on February 24, 2011 and June 14, 2011 to him, adding that these took place after a letter dated February 1, 2011 from Saud Abdulaziz Majid Al Saud to him to notify him of the remittances.
Throughout the 1MDB trial, the defence lawyers have argued that Najib believed the US$681 million (RM2.08 billion) which entered his private bank account were donations from Saudi Arabia, and had sought to use four purported letters from the alleged Saudi prince Prince Saud — during February 2011 to June 2014 and which promised the alleged donations — as evidence in court.
The prosecution had previously argued that these four purported letters are fabricated or fake.
Today, Najib said both AmIslamic Bank and Bank Negara Malaysia had not “red flagged” any of these remittances amounting to RM60 million as being suspicious, and said both the bank and central bank did not raise any enquiry with him about the legitimacy of the donations or the supporting documents given to the banks.
Najib said the MACC’s 1MDB investigation officer Senior Superintendent Nur Aida Arifin had previously testified in court that Prince Faisal’s representatives had “never denied that those remittances were not donations made into my AmIslamic bank account” and that they had also not denied the letters came from the Saudis.
Najib said former Saudi foreign minister Adel Al-Jubeir had confirmed that the RM60 million is a “genuine donation”.
Najib confirmed that he was referring to local newspaper New Straits Times’ April 5, 2016 video of Al-Jubeir as confirmation from Saudi Arabia that they were aware of the donation and that it was a genuine donation.
In October 2018, national news agency Bernama reported Malaysia’s then foreign minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah as saying that Al-Jubeir had stated that the RM2.6 billion — which Najib claimed to have received as a donation — had nothing to do with the Saudi government.
Among other things, Najib today said he had never been at AmIslamic Bank’s branch at Jalan Raja Chulan in Kuala Lumpur on the four dates in 2009 and 2011 where he was accused to have committed four power abuse offences in the 1MDB case.
“No, I have never set foot at AmIslamic Bank, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur between that period, nor have I ever been there at any other material times in relation to the entire 1MDB or SRC episode,” he said.
Najib said Azlin had also told him that AmBank CEO Cheah Tek Kuang would manage the process for the opening of the AmBank account to receive donations from Saudi Arabia and the disclosures to be made to Bank Negara Malaysia about these matters.
