Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that he ONLY found out there was US$1.05bil (RM3.2bil) in his personal bank account between 2011 and 2013 after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission took his statement.
He said this when he took the stand on the second day of the defence trial in the SRC International Sdn Bhd case, where he is accused of misappropriating RM42mil of the company’s funds.
Source: The Star
According to The Star, the money was transferred to Najib’s bank account from different foreign senders.
“I only found out about the transactions after my statement was taken by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and after my lawyer obtained related banking documents from AmBank,” Najib said.
Under an examination-in-chief by lawyer Rahmat Hazlan on 4th December, Najib confirmed the transactions after he was referred to several banking documents.
Najib then mentioned that he was shown letters from Saudi Arabia’s late monarch, King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Saud, which said that Najib was gifted money that he could spend as he wished.
Source: Financial Times
“The letters were shown to me by my late principal private secretary Datuk Seri Azlin Alias who informed me that he had received the same letters from fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low,” Najib said.
“I understood that the letters were given to AmBank by Jho Low and they were also reported to Bank Negara and its governor then, Tan Sri Zeti Abdul Aziz.”
“The funds were spent on corporate social responsibility as well as the general election that year to ensure Barisan Nasional would remain as the government of the day.”
“This was to ensure political stability and aligned with what King Abdullah wanted.”
Source: The Straits Times
However, Najib also said that he returned about US$620mil (RM2.6bil) to Tanore Finance Group – one of the senders – and a balance of RM162mil was transferred into one of his newly opened accounts in August 2013.
“Up until July 2013, I was told that there was a sum of money left in the 694 account. The amount was more than I had planned to use in the nearest time,” he said.
“I was uncomfortable to have that much of funds in my account as I was worried that if the information was leaked, it would spin out of context, politically.”
The hearing continues before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali on Dec 9.
Also read: The Haze is So Bad That Najib Had to Cancel His Court Session Today Because of an Eye Infection
