Maybe Jho Low shared my account number with Arab royals - Najib

Summary

• Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak says fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho might have shared his private bank account number with Arab royalty.

• Najib is relying on the Arab donation promise to defeat the RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering case against him.

1MDB TRIAL | Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak testified he does not know how Arab royalty got a hold of his private account number to donate to.

The former finance minister told the High Court in Putrajaya today that perhaps it was wanted businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) who shared his account number with the Arabs.

Deputy public prosecutor Kamal Baharin Omar was cross-examining Najib on how other people could have known about his private bank account number ending with 694.

Najib: I am not sure.

Kamal: How did he (the alleged donation sender) know your account number, did you ask?

Najib: I did not ask.

Kamal: This is your personal account number.

Najib: Maybe other people shared, what is important was that the money was confirmed to have come in.

Kamal: This is your account. How did other people know?

Najib: I do not know, there is a possibility.

Kamal: You did not ask how someone got hold of your account number?

Najib: Maybe Jho Low shared.

Kamal then remarked this seemed to be like a mule account issue.

A mule account is one being used by others to either collect or transfer funds. These funds could be stolen or laundered from illegal activities.

The former premier is relying on four alleged letters from Arab royalty as a defence against the RM2.27 billion 1MDB abuse of power and money laundering case against him.

The four letters - issued between Feb 1, 2011, to June 1, 2014 - purportedly promised him donations of US$100 million, US$375 million, US$800 million, and £50 million.

Najib claimed that he was led to believe that the late Saudi monarch King Abdullah in January 2010 promised him political donations as part of assistance to a fellow leader of an Islamic nation.

Kamal's cross-examination today covered the first three letters.

‘I did not ask’

During today's trial, Najib testified that he received three of the four alleged Arab letters from his late chief private secretary Azlin Alias.

However, he conceded during grilling by Kamal that he did not ask Azlin where the alleged Arab letters came from.

The temperature in the courtroom heated up when Kamal grilled Najib on why the accused did not write a thank you letter to Arab royalty to express gratitude over the alleged donation.

Kamal: Did you make any acknowledgement (written) to express thanks to the late King Abdullah?

Najib: In written form, no, but in subsequent visits (I did), because contributions like these cannot be done in writing.

He emphasised that this is a sensitive matter and that any letter of appreciation must be issued through the Foreign Ministry.

"I did not do that because people (Arab royalty) are giving money, I felt it would be impolite for me to ask so many questions, people wanted to give a contribution," Najib admonished Kamal.

When Kamal pointed out that the name of the sender of the alleged donation did not match King Abdullah, the accused heatedly explained that other members of Arab royalty could send the money on behalf of the late monarch.

Najib also strongly disagreed with Kamal's assertion that the money flowing into his account was from 1MDB rather than Arab royalty.

The ex-premier also confirmed a 2010 photograph of him officiating at 1MDB's office in Kuala Lumpur.

In his previous testimony, Najib denied having ever set foot in the troubled Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

Near the end of proceedings today, defence counsel Tania Scivetti indicated 20 witnesses after Najib finished his testimony.

The 1MDB trial before judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes on Monday next week.

50 witnesses, 6 years of testimonies

On Oct 30, the criminal court ordered Najib to enter his defence over four abuse of power and 21 money laundering charges involving RM2.27 billion of funds from troubled sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

Sequerah ruled that the prosecution succeeded in establishing a prima facie (answerable) case against Najib over the Minister of Finance Incorporated’s (MOF Inc) wholly owned company.

The judge ruled that Najib had to answer the charges due to the strength of the various 50 witness testimonies during the prosecution stage of proceedings that lasted six years since the trial began in 2019. The accused was first charged in 2018.

Since the prima facie ruling, Najib has been testifying in his defence against the 1MDB criminal charges.

The accused maintained that he had no knowledge of wrongdoing at 1MDB and that Low and management members solely masterminded the embezzlement at the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.

Lead defence lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah represented Najib.

However, Shafee was unable to be present, and Scivetti helped lead the defence team during proceedings today.

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