1MDB trial: Ex-minister claims heard Saudi king’s ‘donation’ promise to Najib, says they were like ‘father and son’

1MDB trial: Ex-minister claims heard Saudi king’s ‘donation’ promise to Najib, says they were like ‘father and son’



File photo of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Complex November 27, 2024. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

Wednesday, 12 Feb 2025 3:15 PM MYT


PUTRAJAYA, Feb 12 — Former minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom today claimed that the late Saudi ruler King Abdullah had promised to personally make donations to Malaysia’s then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank account, and claimed he had heard this private discussion between the two national leaders.

Testifying as the seventh defence witness in Najib’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) trial, Jamil Khir described King Abdullah and Najib as having interacted like a father and son during their 2010 meeting.

In this trial, Najib has claimed that funds totalling RM2 billion which entered his private AmIslamic bank accounts were not 1MDB’s money, and has insisted that he believed those money were sent to him as donations from Saudi Arabia.

Jamil Khir said Najib was attending an unofficial meeting with King Abdullah at the latter’s palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on January 11, 2010, where Najib had conveyed Malaysia’s request for financial assistance or donation from Saudi Arabia.

After the discussion between King Abdullah and Najib in the presence of the Malaysian delegation, Jamil Khir said he saw the Saudi ruler leading Najib away from the meeting area and chatting while walking towards the middle of the hall.

Jamil Khir said Najib had signalled for him to follow and be part of that private discussion. Those in that private discussion were King Abdullah, Najib and the Saudi ruler’s interpreter.

Jamil Khir said he followed them at arms’ length and that he was standing slightly behind Najib, but claimed he was still within distance to hear the two leaders’ conversation and the translated conversation.

“This private conversation’s content covered King Abdullah giving financial contribution to the former prime minister of Malaysia,” he told the High Court today, adding that he believed King Abdullah had several reasons including to ensure Malaysia’s continued stability as a moderate Islamic nation by strengthening Najib’s position as prime minister in the upcoming 2013 elections.

“If not mistaken, King Abdullah also mentioned that he will send this financial contribution not long after the meeting’s date and said this fund would be channelled to a personal account of Datuk Seri Mohd Najib due to certain reasons.

“I understand the necessity for this fund to be channelled to Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal account to facilitate and smoothen Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s political journey and also King Abdullah was worried that channelling directly to any entity or political organisation would complicate the way the funds are spent,” Jamil Khir said.

Jamil Khir also claimed that King Abdullah and Najib appeared to be close.

“Besides what I heard, which is King Abdullah wishes to make a financial contribution personally to Datuk Seri Najib, what I observed during their conversation is their ‘keakraban’ (closeness),” he said, citing as example how King Abdullah had held Najib’s hand while they were heading towards the middle of the hall together.

“I consider that the way they walked, talked and interacted with each other, it looked like the way a father interacts with his son,” he said.

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