I didn’t show Tong the door, Najib tells court

 

Najib Razak said he was simply following Malay culture when he walked Tong Kooi Ong to the door of his house after a late night meeting in March 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: 

Najib Razak has denied ending a late night meeting with The Edge Media Group’s chairman Tong Kooi Ong at home nine years ago by “showing him to the door”.

Testifying at his 1MDB trial in the High Court today, Najib said Tong left the house “on his own accord”.

“He (Tong) saw that I looked tired when he arrived around 10.45pm (on March 6, 2015),” he said, adding that he was simply walking his guest to the door, a gesture which formed part of the Malay culture.

“Malaysians generally understand this. Even when kampung residents enter my house, I will also accompany them to the door when they are about to leave.”

Tong, a prosecution witness in the case, previously said he met Najib that day to explain that from 1MDB’s investment of US$1 billion in its joint venture with PetroSaudi International (PSI), US$700 million went to Good Star Limited, a firm controlled by Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.

He said he told Najib that “what Jho Low did was wrong and that he (Low) should be held accountable”.

He said Najib then stood up, walked to the door and opened it, indicating that the businessman should leave.

After the meeting, he said The Edge continued to publish news stories about 1MDB.

He also said the publication was subsequently suspended by the government but the suspension was later lifted.

‘RM20 million cheque to Umno for CSR, admin purposes’

Najib said he issued a cheque for RM20 million to Umno on Aug 2, 2013 to support the party’s administration and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

“The allocation was not for Najib Razak personally but was meant for Umno to operate effectively and fulfil their responsibilities to the public.

“They did, in fact, carry out a variety of impactful CSR programmes,” he said, referring to flood relief programmes carried out in Kelantan, rural development projects, and educational aid for poor students.

The former prime minister said he also issued a cheque for RM100,000 to the party’s Batu Kawan division for similar purposes.

Najib is standing trial on 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over the alleged misuse of 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.

The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues on Friday. - FMT