Najib's 1MDB Reuters interview raises even more questions

Dear Mr Ex-PM,

I read your interview with Reuters with interest and I have some questions which I hope you could clarify:

You said the handbags and other luxury items seized were gifts given to your wife and daughter and these items were tagged and labelled: when and by whom. You also said the 22-carat pink diamond pendant and necklace set was also meant to be a gift for your wife but she never received it.

At the same time, you also said with the general election in 2013, you had not wanted to get funding from companies as they would expect something in return eventually. This to explain the RM2.6 billion that was moved into your personal account in 2013.

But yet for the 2018 elections, you admitted that the R114 million seized from apartments linked to you were donations for the elections.

Your wife and daughter do not hold any position of importance and yet people or parties gifted your wife and daughter with handbags and other luxury items which are of no small value. So what did these people or parties get in return?

It can't be possible that they gifted them without expecting anything in return since you acknowledged that whoever provides you with funding would expect something in return in reference to the RM2.6 billion that was moved into your account.

Why did you in 2013 refuse to get funding for the elections and yet in 2018 you accepted funding? Are the donors in 2018 expecting something in return for the donations as mentioned by you for refusing to get funding from companies for the 2013 elections?

You said the advisors and the management and board of 1MDB had wrongly kept the alleged embezzlement of funds a secret from you and it was incumbent upon them to tell you if something was wrong.

The story on 1MDB and its alleged embezzlement was on the Internet since 2015 or possibly earlier with various details. Some of the original board members had resigned in the interim and the external auditors had quit and were replaced three times.

With all the publicity, didn't it cross your mind to seek an explanation from the management and board whom you now claimed kept it “secret” from you?

When asked if you were still in touch with Low, you were quoted as saying “We have cut off communication again. I don’t know where he is.”

You said you have cut off communication again - so you are confirming that you have been in communication with him before this and you have cut off communication with him before this latest cut-off?

You said that you had not talked much about the 1MDB allegations because all these things happened out of Malaysia and that there were some “international ramifications” if you were to name certain prominent individuals who might affect the country’s diplomatic relations.

Now that you are longer representing the country, why are you still worried about the “international ramifications”? Why don't you name those certain prominent individuals and let the current government address the international ramifications as they have been professing that they will govern the country by rule of law?

You said that you felt that Low’s connections in the Middle East, particularly with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, could be helpful in pulling in more investment to Malaysia from those places.

You also said that you had been given assurances from the late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud that Saudi Arabia would be sending a donation i.e the RM2.6 billion and you accepted it at face value since it is coming from the Saudis, from King Abdullah at his behest, at his instruction.

Did Low assist you in securing that donation from King Abdullah since you said you felt he could be “helpful” or did you secure the donation based on your relationship with King Abdullah?

You had, in the earlier part of the interview, explained that you do not want to get funding from companies for the 2013 elections as they would expect something in return and you also mentioned that if you have a source of funding (the RM2.6 billion “donation”), you could fund the elections and you could also do a lot CSR (corporate social responsibility) work without being obligated to anyone.

Are you saying that King Abdullah made the donation of RM2.6 billion without any obligations from you in return and in turn you used that donation to fund the 2013 elections? You acknowledged that if companies donate to you, they would expect something in return yet the Saudis do not expect anything in return for that large amount?

I do hope you can provide the public with a more detailed explanation as the responses provided by you in the interview appear to raise even more questions than answering any. - Mkini