Former CIMB Group Holdings chairperson Nazir Abdul Razak expressed regret for helping his eldest brother, former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, cash cheques for the 13th general election that later turned out to be 1MDB-linked.
Detailing the incident in his memoir 'What's In A Name', Nazir (above) said in the run-up to the 2013 polls, Najib approached him to help turn four cheques totalling RM25.7 million into cash to be used for campaigning.
He reiterated in the book that he saw it as only helping his brother, and had no reason to suspect the money came from fraudulent sources beyond legitimate campaign contributions.
"It never for a moment crossed my mind to think the funds could be of questionable origin.
"Of course, with the benefit of hindsight I regret agreeing to be involved at all," he said.
In 2016, it was revealed by the Wall Street Journal that the cheques came from an account owned by Najib where misappropriated 1MDB funds had been channelled.
Nazir said the revelation was distressing and prompted him to take garden leave as the head of CIMB to allow for an internal probe.
CIMB would later find that Nazir did not misuse his position in disbursing the cheques.
Nazir, who had been vocal about 1MDB, said in his memoir that he warned Najib on several occasions between 2009 and 2013 about the wealth fund, and expressed concerns that funds were being siphoned.
He said 1MDB became a sore point and strained his relationship with his brother.
"After a while, 1MDB became almost a taboo subject for us.
"I couldn't get through to him, and a couple of times he even quipped that I must be jealous or just have a personal dislike of Jho (Low)," he said.
Low, who is now a fugitive, was a close confidant of Najib who is believed to have played a key role in siphoning 1MDB funds.
Nazir detailed in his memoir that his personal unease with 1MDB led him to work together with others such as The Edge's boss Tong Kooi Ong to investigate the fund, and even approached Dr Mahathir Mohamad for help in 2015.
His actions also caused his sister-in-law Rosmah Mansor to turn against him, he claimed.
He claimed that during a Ramadan dinner on July 15, 2015 at Najib's house, Rosmah loudly told Najib not to speak to him.
"For Rosmah, life was very simple; you were either with them or against them. There was no middle ground,
"Now at the Ramadan party, she grabbed Najib's hand and looking straight at me said, loudly: 'Don't talk to him! He's working against you and trying to topple you'," he recalled.
He said Najib tried to calm Rosmah down, to no avail.
"She added, with more than a hint of venom: 'I know what you're up to. I have eyes. You had better watch out," Nazir wrote.
He said his sister-in-law was not entirely wrong, but that his motives were to get to the bottom of the 1MDB scandal and not to hurt Najib. - Mkini
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