PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak today insisted that the RM2.6 billion that was channeled into his personal bank account in 2013 was a pure donation from the Saudi royal family.
“I wish to state here that I never lied on the issue of the RM2.6 billion donation,” he stresses.
In an 11-minute video posted on his Facebook live last night, Najib said that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and his officers were aware of the money (the funds) transactions and they raised no question at that time.
“I had followed the rules, and this could not be disputed, because the relevant quarters did not indicate or raise the alarm on the funds received.
“I also wish to explain that all the funds I received before this was used for the General Election, for politics, non-governmental organisations and the welfare of the people.
“I have never used the funds received for my own personal use,” he said.
He also explained how Pakatan Harapan (which was the then opposition party) manipulated the issue and used it as a weapon to defeat Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 14th general election (GE14).
Najib also claims that he had very close ties with the late King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah, reminding us of the highest award of the King of Saudi Arabia that he received, adding that the former US president Barack Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin had been bestowed the same award for the king.
The Pekan MP added, he was the first Malaysian prime minister to receive such award.
“The late King Abdullah had proposed to help me and give contributions so that the BN government would remain in power.
“This was his wish, so he then asked the Saudi crown prince and several officers to get in touch with my office,” he said.
Najib also stresses that letters from the prince`s officers were sent to him along the donations.
“This also included the RM2.6 billion. It was sent to me along with letters which were signed by the crown prince.
“With those very same letters sent to explain the source of the funds, as soon as GE14 ended, all RM2.6 billion was returned to the sender,” he said.
Najib did not mention why he posted this video, but it seems he is responding to Utusan Malaysia newspaper that claimed he lied to UMNO members about the source of the RM2.6billion fund.
UMNO mouth piece newspaper based its claim (that Najib is a liar) on a recent interview Najib had with Aljazeera in which he mentioned that he did not verify the source of the fund.
In the 11-minutes-video Najib denies he had said he had not verified the donation he had received and claims that his answer in the interview with Al-Jazeera was misinterpreted and manipulated.
“Unfortunately my answer was manipulated by certain quarters to give the wrong meaning,” he said.
“I wish to firmly state that I am not a thief, a robber and a crook. Hopefully when the time comes, the truth will reveal itself, and all accusations will disappear.
“I hope the truth will surface, and God willing, I can clear my name,” said Najib who was charged with 45 offences related to criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering charges related to 1MDB funds.
