MP wants Jakel to furnish receipts of Najib's 'charity'

An opposition lawmaker has urged fashion house Jakel Trading to furnish receipts to prove that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak purchased clothing and other items for charitable purposes and not for his wife Rosmah Mansor.

Lim Lip Eng was responding to a claim by MyKMU.net concerning the allegation that Najib transferred US$14 million to Jakel from 2011 to 2014.

Quoting a source, the portal claimed this was to procure items for charitable contributions such as clothing for orphanages and victims of natural disasters as well as carpets for mosques.

"Is MyKMU admitting that Najib spent US$14 million at Jakel?" asked Lim.

Noting that the prime minister's salary was only RM50,000, the DAP MP said Najib could not have afforded to pay such a colossal sum.

"I want the prime minister to come clean and tell the people how he got the money for this," he added.

On a sarcastic note, the Segambut MP said the government should write to the Guinness Book of Records to include Najib as a leader who has made the biggest donation.

Yesterday, Lim filed a police report on the amount allegedly spent at Jakel as disclosed in The Wall Street Journal report.

After visiting the fashion house, he claimed that some dresses could cost up to RM10,000 apiece.

"So did Najib buy 5,500 dresses from Jakel for Rosmah in four years? One year equals 365 days, which in turn equals to 1,375 dresses. That is about four dresses a day," he had said.

However, MyKMU criticised the media for attempting to portray the prime minister's wife as a spendthrift.

"There is no person mad enough to buy clothes from Jakel for tens of millions of ringgit for personal use.

"If it was indeed for personal collection, based on the prices of the clothing in Jakel which is within the affordable range for the majority of Malaysians, Najib would have to rent a warehouse to store all the clothes," it argued.

The portal said Najib, Umno and its wings as well as NGOs purchased clothing on a yearly basis for orphans using the contribution from the prime minister.

Malaysiakini has sent an email to Jakel Trading and is awaiting its response. -Mkini