1MDB TRIAL | An MACC investigating officer has testified that Najib Abdul Razak did not initially inform the anti-graft agency in 2018 of a Malaysian ministerial delegation meeting with the Saudi king in January 2010.
Nur Aida Arifin pointed out to the Kuala Lumpur High Court that the claim was only raised in a separate criminal trial against the former premier two years later.
The 49th prosecution witness in the RM2.27 billion 1MDB corruption trial against Najib was referring to what the graftbuster recorded from Najib during an investigation in late 2018.
She said, at the time, the former finance minister only referred to his claim that the billions of ringgit entering his Malaysian bank account in 2013 was a donation from Saudi royalty.
During cross-examination by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah today, Aida said Najib in late 2018 only told MACC that there was a meeting to prove the donation claim and did not mention any Malaysian ministerial delegation.
Aida said Najib’s claim that it was a Malaysian ministerial delegation meeting with the late King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Saud only came to light during the 2020 SRC International corruption trial involving RM42 million.
“During the (MACC) investigation in 2018, the issue (of the Malaysian ministerial delegation to Saudi Arabia in January 2010) did not arise.
“Najib never explained or presented the defence on the meeting taking place in Saudi Arabia, so the matter did not arise during the investigation stage,” Aida told judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
The delegation included former religious minister Jamil Khir Baharom, former foreign minister Anifah Aman, and former Malaysian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Syed Omar Syed Mohamad Al-Saggaf.
During the defence stage of the SRC trial in early 2020, Jamil testified about the Malaysian ministerial delegation meeting King Abdullah. Anifah and Syed Omar also gave their testimony.
Aida noted that the three witnesses’ testimonies during the SRC trial contradicted each other.
Najib is serving a six-year jail sentence over the SRC case, following a discount courtesy of a royal pardon.
MACC dissatisfied with 'Arab princes' statement
When the trial resumed in the afternoon after a break, Aida testified that the MACC was not satisfied with the statement given by two alleged Arab princes when MACC flew to Riyadh in late 2015.
The MACC officer said the agency delegation did not even manage to meet directly with the two alleged Arab princes to confirm whether the kingdom had promised billions of ringgit in donations to Najib.
Aida noted that the MACC delegation only met the duo's lawyer, who provided a statement allegedly from the two royal family members.
The MACC visit to Saudi Arabia took place a few months before then attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali in January 2016 had cleared Najib of wrongdoing in the inflow of billions of ringgit into the then premier's bank account.
The antigraft agency was trying to seek confirmation from Arab royalty over Najib's claim of the existence of four alleged Arab letters, which allegedly promised millions of US dollars in donations.
Charges
Najib is on trial for four counts of abuse of power and 21 counts of money laundering involving RM2.27 billion from 1MDB.
For the four abuse of power charges, the former Pekan MP is alleged to have committed the offences at AmIslamic Bank Bhd’s Jalan Raja Chulan branch in Bukit Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.
On the 21 money laundering counts, Najib is purported to have committed the offences at the same bank between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.
1MDB is fully owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated.
Najib was chairperson of 1MDB’s board of advisers. - Mkini
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