EXCLUSIVE | Former premier Najib Abdul Razak continues to insist that the US$681 million (commonly referred to as RM2.6 billion) in his bank accounts prior to the 2013 general election was a donation from a member of the Saudi royal family.

This is despite the US Department of Justice (DOJ), in its civil forfeiture suits, and his critics alleging that the colossal sum was siphoned from 1MBD.

Noting that US$620 million of the US$681 million was returned to the “donor” in the same year, Najib said the donation came about following his meeting with the late Saudi ruler King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud.

“The genesis was when I met with King Abdullah. I asked him to support the (Malaysian) government because I thought their government has a record of supporting governments which are somewhat friendly with them.

“So what I requested was nothing unusual and he agreed to support and subsequently we received letters and then money was credited at about the time they had promised the donation. I informed the relevant authorities. Bank Negara was informed of that fund that was coming in,” he told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview last week.

Popularly known among Malaysians as the RM2.6 billion issue due to the exchange rate when the matter became public in July 2015, a sum of US$681 million was found to be deposited into the personal accounts of Najib in March and April 2013.

Based on the exchange rates of about US$1 to RM3.032 at the time of deposit, the sum would have been worth RM2.063 billion in the local currency.

It was also reported that a total of US$620 million was later returned to the same source in August 2013.

As the ringgit had weakened to RM3.30 to the US dollar by then, the US$620 million would mean that the most of the “donation” would have been returned.

‘Contingency plan’

Najib said the DOJ had also verified that the sum of over US$600 million had been returned.

"Pakatan Harapan tells the people that I took ‘RM2.6 billion’ but they never tell that the money was also returned by me to the same source. That is not fair.

“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,” he added.

Najib also said he had deemed it important to have a large sum as contingency after the election as anything could happen including a possible repeat of the “916" threat in GE12.

The "916 incident" refers to Sept 16, 2008 when then opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had promised that 30 members of Parliament from BN were supposed to cross over to the opposition which would have led to the BN government falling then - making Anwar the new prime minister.

Asked what prompted him to return such a staggering sum, Najib said he felt uncomfortable holding on to such a large unspent amount of the “donation”.

“I felt uncomfortable with that kind of money in the system because I was not confident of the integrity of the system, there could be leaks.

“And I thought in subsequent elections, if I needed (funds) I could always go back (to the source),” he added.

On whether the “donor” would be willing to step forward to clear his name should he be charged, Najib replied: “Well we have letters and documented the movement of funds, and the foreign minister of Saudi has come out openly to confirm it was a donation.”

“As far as I am concerned, I acted in good faith. On top of it, King Abdullah awarded me the highest decoration from Saudi. Only (former US) president (Barack) Obama and (Russian president Vladimir) Putin have the same. That shows the level of trust he had in me,” he added.

‘No donation in personal accounts for GE14'

Najib could not hold back his laughter when asked if there were donations in his personal accounts with regard to last month's general election.

“No, after all that has happened....(laughs).... stay away (from donations in personal accounts)....(laughs),” he added.

However, Najib said he had to choose his words carefully when quizzed on whether he returned the RM42 million from SRC International which allegedly landed in his account.

“I have to be careful because this is subject to investigation. I have given my full account and I stand by my account to MACC,” he added.

SRC International, which is a former subsidiary of 1MDB, was set up in 2011 to pursue strategic overseas investments in energy resources. It is now owned by the Ministry of Finance.

In January 2016, former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali had cleared Najib of any wrongdoing with regard to the RM2.6 billion and RM42 million from SRC in his bank accounts.

The former premier's detractors, however, refused to accept this, claiming that it was a cover-up.

Last month, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed that Apandi's predecessor Abdul Gani Patail was preparing to charge Najib when he was suddenly removed from his position on health reasons.

MACC has reopened its investigations into SRC and the former premier, as well as his wife Rosmah Mansor, were subjected to several marathon questioning sessions.

Read more: 'Stolen' 1MDB funds: The DOJ lawsuit revisited

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