Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak did not admit the RM42 million transferred into his bank account originated from former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd, said his lawyer Mohd Hafarizam Harun.

He clarified this to Malaysiakini today following confusion over the prime minister's reply to the statement of defence filed by former MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik last week.

"I think we must begin with Ling's statement of defence in paragraph 33.3 (ii), in which the defendant (Ling) says 'another RM42 million was transferred from SRC into the AmPrivate Banking personal account of the plaintiff via two intermediaries namely (SRC subsidiaries) Gandingan Mentari and Ihsan Perdana'.

"If you look at our statement of reply, my client only admitted that RM42 million went into his account, but had no knowledge it was through the two intermediaries as alleged by Ling," Hafarizam said.

He pointed out that nowhere in Najib's reply was it mentioned that the fund came from the Finance Ministry-owned SRC International.

Najib's full statement of reply states: "Paragraph 33(ii) is admitted to the extent of the deposited funds amounting to RM42 million into the account of the plaintiff (Najib) through AmPrivate Banking . However, the plaintiff (Najib) at all material times has no knowledge that it was channelled through two intermediaries as alleged by the defendants."

The prime minister, Hafarizam said, wants Ling ( photo ) as the defendant to prove that the fund came from SRC International or the two intermediaries.

"Hence, this is something that the defendant must prove," he stressed.

Earlier, a news portal reported that Najib, in his reply, had admitted that the RM42 million in his bank account came from SRC.

Najib further said in his statement of reply that as the matter is being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), he does not want to override the investigation.

The prime minister filed the suit against his former cabinet colleague on Oct 27, after Ling urged Najib to resign over the allegations.

Najib, who is also Umno president, claimed that the words uttered by Ling meant he had abused his powers, was not qualified to be the leader of the government, that he was involved in a scandalous or financial conspiracy and that he was not fit to be the BN chairperson.

Najib is seeking general, aggravated and exemplary damages from the former MCA president, besides a written apology.

Following the suit, Ling filed his defence and counter-claim on Dec 14, questioning why he was singled out for the suit as there were other Umno politicians calling for the prime minister's resignation, but were not sued.

The prime minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and blamed the allegations against him on those conspiring to oust him from power.