Saudi donation expected due to relationship with late king: Najib

Saudi donation expected due to relationship with late king: Najib

Hidir Reduan Abdul Rashid
Published: Oct 24, 2024 8:31 PM


Najib Abdul Razak testified he was expecting donations from Saudi Arabia due to his warm relationship with the kingdom’s late ruler King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud.

The ex-prime minister was testifying in the Kuala Lumpur High Court today on why he believed billions of ringgit in his bank account came from Middle East royalty.

He said his belief was bolstered by four letters allegedly from Saudi royalty presented to him in his office at Putrajaya.

During re-examination by his lead counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Najib testified that the letters promised the donation due to his contribution to the Islamic world.

Shafee: Were you expecting the contribution?

Najib: Yes I was because of my warm relationship with King Abdullah.

Shafee: When you said warm relationship with King Abdullah, what did he indicate this (contribution) was on the way to you?

Najib: When I met him in Riyadh, he said he would extend support to me and bestow the highest award only previously given to (then United States president) Barack Obama and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.

Najib said as a result of knowing a substantial amount of money was coming, he alerted then-AmBank managing director Cheah Tek Kuang to take the letters and inform then-Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz about the incoming funds.

“I wanted my account (at Ambank) to be monitored closely by Bank Negara Malaysia so that nothing untoward would happen over the source of funds.

“As a customer of the bank, I would not have access to information on the source of the funds, I had to rely on Bank Negara Malaysia and Ambank,” the defendant said.

When Shafee asked whether he had an inkling that the large amount of money that went into the account could be from illegal means, Najib answered not at all, in light of when the initial donations came from the Finance Ministry in Riyadh.

The late Saudi Arabia ruler King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud

Najib was taking the witness stand to rebut SRC International’s US$1.18 billion (RM3.6 billion) lawsuit against him.

The ex-premier previously raised the Arab royalty donation claim in a separate criminal case involving RM42 million of funds from SRC, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

Najib is currently serving a six-year jail sentence since August 2022 and fined RM50 million for the criminal case.

The hearing of SRC’s civil action against Najib, its former advisor emeritus, before judge Ahmad Fairuz Zainol Abidin concluded today, with the court setting Oct 29 for case management of the matter.


SRC’s suit

SRC is suing Najib, 71, for his alleged breach of fiduciary duty regarding the misappropriation of US$1.18 billion of loans that the company received between 2011 and 2012.

The Retirement Fund Incorporated (Kwap) had given a total of RM4 billion in loans in two tranches for SRC to invest in renewable energy activities.

Najib, who is also a former finance minister, contended that the persons responsible for the financial misuse at the company were its management, headed by former CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, who is at large and being sought by the authorities.

Najib’s conviction in the SRC criminal case was over receiving RM42 million as gratification for ensuring two government guarantees for the Kwap loans to SRC. Kwap is under the purview of the Finance Ministry.

Under new management, SRC filed the lawsuit in May 2021, alleging that Najib not only committed a breach of trust and abuse of power but also personally benefited from the company’s funds.

SRC seeks a court declaration that Najib is responsible for its losses due to a purported breach of duties and trust and for the defendant to repay RM42 million.

The plaintiff is also seeking a court order that the former Pekan MP be held accountable for its US$1.18 billion loss and repay US$120 million of funds that allegedly flowed into his bank account.

A legal team headed by counsel Lim Chee Wee is representing plaintiff SRC.


‘Donation returned after GE13’

Meanwhile, earlier during today’s civil court proceedings, Najib claimed he returned US$620 million of the alleged Arab donation after the 13th general election in 2013.

He said he returned the unutilised portion of the initially larger amount of US$681 million that flowed into his bank account earlier that year.

Najib said he believed the funds were Saudi donations to help him during the Malaysian polls, and that he did not feel comfortable with the unutilised portion of the funds remaining in his bank account.