Was it Jho Low or not? Najib reminded of discrepancies from SRC and 1MDB trials, but says will explain

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 13 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak was today reminded of how he had given different answers in two different trials about the role of Low Taek Jho — better known as Jho Low — over the purported donations from Saudi Arabia.

Najib, 71, had testified in his earlier trial over SRC International Sdn Bhd’s RM42 million, which resulted in the former prime minister serving his six-year jail term now.

In his 15th day of testifying in his separate 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial, Najib was confronted with his contradicting answers in both trials and said he would explain later.

Najib has insisted that over RM2 billion which entered his personal AmIslamic accounts were not 1MDB’s funds, and has claimed that these huge sums of money were instead donations from the late Saudi ruler King Abdullah.

Today, deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar referred to excerpts from Najib’s written witness statement in the SRC trial, after the latter said he did not clearly remember what he had said then.

Najib had started testifying in his SRC trial in December 2019 and completed his testimony in March 2020 after being on the witness stand there for 33 days.

Najib confirmed he had the same lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah handling both his SRC and 1MDB trial.

Najib disagreed that there was inconsistency with his SRC testimony that King Abdullah promised in 2010 to give him “support” and with his 1MDB testimony that mentioned “financial support”, saying this was a matter of “interpretation” of the word “support”.

Here is Malay Mail’s summary of the different court testimonies that Kamal Baharin pointed out to Najib today, based on the latter’s written witness statement in the SRC case and what he told the court in the 1MDB trial:

1. Najib had in the SRC trial said Low had indicated Saudi Arabia would donate between US$100 million to US$200 million, but Najib had in the 1MDB trial said Low indicated about up to US$1 billion in incoming donations.

2. In SRC: Najib said he received the purported Arab donation letters from Low. In 1MDB: Najib said he received the letters from his then principal private secretary Datuk Azlin Alias.

3. In SRC: Najib said he discussed with Low and Azlin to open an AmIslamic bank account to receive the alleged Saudi donation. In 1MDB: Najib said the discussion was with Azlin.

4. In SRC: Najib said Low proposed opening a new account at AmBank as he knew and could introduce the bank’s managing director Cheah Tek Kuang. In 1MDB: Najib said Azlin was the one who proposed opening the account and Azlin was the one who would introduce.

5. In SRC: Najib said Low arranged for Cheah to meet him in January 2011 at his Langgak Duta house for the bank account opening. In 1MDB: Najib said Azlin was the one who arranged this.

6. In SRC: Najib said Low was present at his Langgak Duta house to introduce Cheah and him. In 1MDB: Najib said Low was not present at the house.

While agreeing that there were differences in his court testimony “pada zahirnya” (on the surface) in the two SRC and 1MDB trials, Najib said he would explain.

As this is the cross-examination stage where the prosecution grills Najib, he would typically have to reply whether he agrees or disagrees, while any explanation that he wants to make would be done later during the re-examination stage when he is questioned by his own lawyers.

Differences also in the four alleged Arab donation letters, Najib denies they are fake

In the 1MDB trial, Najib has cited four purported donation letters where an alleged Saudi royal had promised to give him gifts.

The letters were dated February 1, 2011 (promising a US$100 gift), November 1, 2011 (promising up to US$375 million), March 1, 2013 (up to US$800 million) and June 1, 2014 (up to £50 million).

Najib agreed that all four letters did not mention his meeting with King Abdullah in 2010 where the purported donation promise was made, and that the letters also did not mention the Saudi ruler’s donation intention.

Najib agreed that all four letters did not state its purported author Saud Majid Abdulaziz Al Saud’s connection with the Saudi royal family or King Abdullah.

Najib said he does not personally know this individual Saud, but insisted that this man is a Saudi royal family member.

Today, Kamal Baharin pointed out various differences and alleged flaws in the four letters, such as how some of these letters had referred to the previous donation letters without mentioning the donation amount actually sent to Najib, and how the fourth letter mentioned all previous letters except for the third one.

Najib disagreed that this meant the money did not come from Saudi Arabia or from King Abdullah, also disagreeing this meant the money which entered his account was from 1MDB.

Kamal Baharin said 1MDB’s former in-house lawyer Jasmine Loo had previously testified that Kee Kok Thiam created the fourth donation letter on Low’s instructions.

Kamal Baharin then suggested the similarities between all four purported donation letters meant they were actually fabricated by Low, but Najib disagreed.

Kamal Baharin also pointed out that the first letter had no stamp of the “SAM” seal unlike the three other letters, and that all four letters were signed off without “Majid” in the name despite the letterhead having “Majid” in the phrase “Saud Abdulaziz Majid Al Saud Private Office”.

The first and third letter was signed off with “Saud Abdulaziz Al Saud”, while the second and third letter was signed off with “HRH Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud”.

Kamal Baharin said the third letter’s signature was different from the signatures for all other letters, but Najib said he was unsure.

While Kamal Baharin suggested these defects meant the letters were actually fake and did not come from Saud, Najib disagreed.

At one point, Najib’s lawyer Tania Scivetti questioned if investigators had recorded Kee’s statement before he died, as he was in custody for some time before dying.Kee died on May 29, 2023.

Kamal Baharin said he was told that the statement could not be recorded as Kee had passed away, but later added that prosecution would have to check on this as the police could have recorded a statement from Kee.

Scivetti later told the court that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had arrested and detained Kee on May 3, 2023, and that this should mean that he was investigated by the MACC.

Najib’s 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes this afternoon.