FRANKLY SPEAKING, NAJIB – SPARE US THE ‘I DIDN’T KNOW’ SPIN: FOR THE PM OF A COUNTRY TO PUT SO MUCH TRUST IN A 28-YEAR-OLD WITH NO PROVEN RECORD IS NOT ONLY INEXCUSABLE BUT CULPABLE

When Low Taek Jho’s (Jho Low) involvement in 1MDB dealings first surfaced in 2015, the then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak denied any knowledge of it. Over the past three years, he has kept mum about his and his family’s relationship with the Penang-born fugitive.

But last week, as he appeared to be preparing to face criminal charges in the 1MDB scandal, Najib, for the first time, talked about Jho Low in an interview with Malaysiakini. The following is a gist of what he said:

•     Jho Low had a special relationship with Middle-Eastern royalty that impressed him;
•     Jho Low represented said Middle-Eastern royalty in their dealings and partnerships with 1MDB; and
•     1MDB paid for its ventures with said Middle-Easten royalty and their companies and Najib had no control over what they did with the money.

Here is an important fact. In 2009, Jho Low was only 28 when he arranged for Najib and his family to meet Prince Turki and his PetroSaudi International partners on a luxury yacht in the south of France. One month later, 1MDB transferred US$1.0 billion for a joint venture — money it was never to see again.

For the prime minister of a country to put so much trust in a 28-year-old who had no proven track record, except to put together what we now know as a few shady acquisitions (see Infographic on Page 32), is simply inexcusable.

So what if Jho Low had connections with Middle-Eastern royalty? What was important was whether the transactions he put together were good for Malaysia. And how could the first deal with PetroSaudi International in 2009 been any good when 1MDB was the only party that put in money — starting with US$1.0 billion and ending with US$1.83 billion — that was subsequently siphoned off by Jho Low and his bandits?

The fact is Najib knew about the first US$1.0 billion that disappeared in 2010. Yet he continued to deal with Jho Low, pouring in more billions, which we have also lost.

So Najib, please spare us your “I didn’t know … I am not responsible … I would not do anything wrong” story.  — http://www.theedgemarkets.com

Why would I use a local bank account in my own name if I wanted to steal, asks Najib

KUALA LUMPUR: As had been reported before, former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak continues to stress that the RM2.6 billion in his personal bank account was a donation from a member of the Saudi royal family.

He also maintained that he had returned US$620 million from the donation to the donor after the 13th General Election (GE13).

In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, Najib told of how the donation came to be.

The former Umno president said he had asked the late Saudi ruler King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud to support the Malaysian government.

It was not an unusual request, Najib said, adding that the late ruler had agreed to support.

This was later followed by letters and the donation itself.

“I informed the relevant authorities. Bank Negara was informed of that fund that was coming in,” Malaysiakini quoted the former Premier as saying.

On the claim that he took RM2.6 billion, Najib said it was not fair for Pakatan Harapan (PH) to not talk about him returning the money as the US Department of Justice (DoJ) had verified that over US$600 million was returned.

“Does it smack of somebody who was trying to cheat or steal? If the intention was to steal, why would I use a local bank account in my own name? I used the money for the election (GE13) and after the election, the (balance) money was returned. As far as I was concerned, that was the responsible thing to do,” was quoted as saying.

Explaining further on the donation, Najib said he thought it was important to have some money as contingency for GE13, fearing a repeat of the threat of 30 Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs crossing over to the Opposition during GE12.

Najib added that the movement of the funds were documented, stating that the Saudi Foreign Minister had also previously clarified it was a donation.

“As far as I am concerned, I acted in good faith,” Najib said. – – NST

THE EDGE / NST