On Monday (10 September 2018), Datuk Seri Najib Razak disclosed the bank documents of the money he had received from the late King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. The documents were posted on his FB page accompanied by a lengthy post detailing how the money (approx. RM415 million) came into his possession.
According to his post, the donations were given to him to aid the fundings of his party. He further wrote that he will reveal more about the matter, especially about the RM2.6 billion issue.
Najib then claimed that he and his lawyers have gone to great lengths to retrieve these documents but now, two Wall Street Journal journalists have been quick to call him out as one of them tweeted that what Najib had shared on FB wasn’t anything new, reported NST.
In a Twitter thread, the award-winning WSJ journalist Tom Wright said that investigators from all around the world have revealed that the USD1 billion (approx. RM4.1 billion) originated from 1MDB.
He also added that he and his co-author have detailed this issue in their book and that it wasn’t that hard to retrieve the bank documents because they have had it for many years. Plus, he reiterated that Najib’s revelation was old information and explained that the bank documents don’t actually reveal how Najib had received the 1MDB money.
FYI, Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood and The World is a book written by Pulitzer finalists and award-winning WSJ journalists, Tom Wright and Bradley Hope. The book details about one of the biggest heists in history, the 1MDB scandal, and is described as a “true-life thriller” about a modern-day “Gatsby”.
In another series of tweets, WSJ journalist Bradley Hope claimed that the documents Najib posted on FB were partly misleading. He then attached screenshots of some infographics detailing how Najib received more than USD1 billion into his personal bank accounts in Malaysia. Yup, he even tagged Najib’s handle.
Well, it looks like our former prime minister will need to write another lengthy post to explain himself against these journalists’ claims.
Do you agree with these WSJ journalists’ insights on Najib’s revelation? Let us know in the comments below!
Also read: Najib Shares Bank Receipts As Proof That Saudi King Donated RM415 Million to Him