1MDB verdict: Court rules Arab donation letters were forged

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has dismissed the Arab donation letters presented by former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's defence team in his 1MDB trial as "forgeries".

In reading out the court verdict this morning, judge Collin Lawrence Sequerah ruled that Najib’s summary of his own narrative in relation to the funds being Arab donations renders it implausible.

"Arab donation narrative is not meritorious. The Arab donation letters were forgeries, and the evidence pointed unmistakably to the fact that the monies were, in fact, derived from 1MDB funds.

"This court has found the Arab donation defence to be incapable of belief and has not succeeded in rebutting the presumption of gratification under Section 23 of the MACC Act," the judge said.

In January, Najib testified that the Arab donation into his private account did not violate the Code of Ethics for Members of Administration.

The former Pekan MP told the High Court that this was why he did not disclose the alleged Saudi royal donation to the then-cabinet in 2013.

During the corruption trial on Jan 13, he explained that he only disclosed to the cabinet that the late Saudi monarch King Abdullah would support his administration without disclosing the donation in detail.

Najib also disputed that the four letters addressed to him carried a personal tone.

READ MORE: Prosecution: Najib, Jho Low faked 'Arab donation' to cover up scandal

Najib’s 25 charges

Najib was accused of four counts of power abuse and 21 money laundering charges in 2018. The trial began the following year.

The former premier had allegedly used his position to obtain gratification totalling RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds between Feb 24, 2011 and Dec 19, 2014, at the AmIslamic Bank Berhad branch on Jalan Raja Chulan in Bukit Ceylon.

For the 21 money laundering charges, he is accused of committing the offence at the same bank between March 22, 2013 and Aug 30, 2013.

His power abuse charge was framed under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009, which is punishable under Section 24(1) of the same law, carrying 20 years imprisonment and a fine of either five times the amount of the bribe or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Najib’s money laundering charges were framed under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act, which provides a maximum fine of RM5 million and imprisonment of up to five years or both.

He was ordered to defend himself against the charges on Oct 30, 2024, after Collin found the prosecution had established a prima facie case against him.

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Arab donation didn't violate Code of Ethics: Najib

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