The BN strategic communications team (BNSC) has dredged up an old leaked recording of Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin allegedly saying he did not question funds managed by Umno president Najib Abdul Razak.
In the audio recording, supposedly recorded on Sept 5, 2015, a voice that sounds like Muhyiddin – who was still Umno deputy president at the time – is heard saying that he had never questioned “special funds” managed by the Umno president.
“I have never asked, as a deputy president from 2009 until now, I have never questioned this special fund, because I know that from before, this fund is managed by the president,” the voice says.
The “special funds” is believed to be a reference to Umno’s war chest. Najib had in 2013 received a US$681 million sum in his personal accounts to fund Umno and BN’s general election efforts that year.
Najib claimed that the US$681 million, which came to be known as the RM2.6 billion donation, had come from a member of the Saudi royal family.
In response to an open letter from former international trade and industry minister Rafidah Aziz today regarding the funds received by Najib, BNSC said she should ask Muhyiddin about what he meant in the recording.
“Please ask Muhyiddin…why he had said he had no problems about the special Umno president fund that Muhyiddin (said) was a long-standing Umno practice.
“I am sure that Muhyiddin will confirm to Rafidah what she already knows – that it was always the practise that the Umno president holds the funds on behalf of the party,” BNSC said in a statement today.
The team added that Muhyiddin had kept quiet about the recording for over two years.
Malaysiakini has contacted Muhyiddin for a response.
RELATED STORY: Muhyiddin dares Najib to sue him over MO1 accusation
The audio recording’s supposed date, Sept 5, 2015, is the day when Umno held a supreme council meeting, following which Najib said that Muhyiddin remained loyal to the party despite having been sacked as deputy prime minister.
The leaked recording, which had been making the rounds since 2016, appears to lend credence to the Sept 5, 2015 date, as the voice attributed to Muhyiddin refers to Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as “deputy prime minister and home minister”.
Muhyiddin had been axed as deputy prime minister in July 2015 for being critical of Najib’s handling of the 1MDB scandal.
As early as August that year, he had begun openly questioning Najib’s donation, saying the latter would not reveal who exactly had given him the funds.
While Najib had been cleared by attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali of any wrongdoing with regards to the donations, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), however, paints a different picture.
According to its civil forfeiture suits, US$681 million was allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB, and transfered to the accounts of a figure named in court documents as “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1).
Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who heads BNSC, has said that MO1 is Najib.
The DOJ also claimed that the US$620 million supposedly returned by MO1 ended up in accounts controlled by 1MDB-linked businessperson Jho Low.
Najib returned almost entire RM2.6b ‘donation’, BN strategic comms claims
Umno president Najib Abdul Razak has returned most, if not all, of the so-called RM2.6 billion donation he received in 2013, the BN strategic communications (BNSC) team claimed today.
BNSC said former international trade and industry minister Rafidah Aziz was correct in pointing out in her open letter, published on Facebook today, that the US$681 million transferred to Najib’s personal accounts as a donation before the 2013 general election was worth RM2.077 billion.
This figure was based on that year’s exchange rate, whereas the figure of RM2.6 billion was based on the exchange rate in 2015, when the transfer was first exposed by the Wall Street Journal.
BNSC also said that Rafidah was correct that US$620 million from the transferred funds had been returned back to its donor in Aug 2013.
“However, where Rafidah had made a gross mistake was to assume that the ringgit’s exchange rate had remained unchanged from March 2013 to Aug 2013.
“Rafidah (photo below) had made an entirely fake accusation that US$61 million had been retained in the prime minister’s account and hence subject to income tax,” the BNSC said in a statement today.
The team calculated that based on the Aug 2013 exchange rate of RM3.30 to one US dollar, the US$620 million returned was worth RM2.046 billion.
“Therefore an estimated RM2.077 billion was transferred in and RM2.046 billion was then returned.
“(Minus) bank and forex fees, this means that the majority – if not the whole amount – has been returned,” it said.
Najib has maintained that the donation came from a member of the Saudi royal family, and that the monies were necessary to fund Umno’s machinery.
Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali had also cleared Najib of any wrongdoing in the donation scandal.
The US Department of Justice, however, paints a different image of the donation.
According to its civil forfeiture suits, US$681 million was allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB, and transfered to the accounts of ‘Malaysian Official 1’.
Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who heads BNSC, has said that MO1 is Najib.
The DOJ also claimed that the US$620 million returned by MO1 ended up in accounts controlled by 1MDB-linked businessperson Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low.
A portion of the returned funds were subsequently used to purchase jewellery, including a 22-carat pink diamond pendant and necklace, for the wife of MO1.
An extensive and in-depth guide on the money trail of allegedly stolen 1MDB funds can be read here.
MKINI
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