Najib testifies that he returned a portion of alleged Saudi donation

The first defence witness said he wanted to prevent any misinterpretations arising from the presence of such a significant sum of money in his personal account.

Najib testified that he wrote to AmBank expressing his intention to return USD620 million, which remained unused, to Tanore Finance Corporation, the entity that had deposited the funds into his AmIslamic account ending with the number 694.

"The two reasons I returned the money were, firstly, because the election (the 13th General Election in 2013) was over. Secondly, I did not need such a large sum in my account, as it could lead to various interpretations. Therefore, I returned the unused funds to the donor.

"I wrote a letter to AmBank regarding this return. I did not personally notify Tanore; the process was conducted solely through banking documentation," he said during cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Kamal Baharin Omar, during his trial for allegedly misappropriating RM2.3 billion in 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.

Najib stated that he also did not personally inform King Abdullah or Saudi royal family member Saud Abdulaziz bin Majid Al Saud regarding the return of the USD620 million.

However, he disagreed with Kamal Baharin's suggestion that he refrained from doing so because he knew the money did not originate from the king, but was instead from 1MDB funds.

In previous proceedings, Najib testified that during a 2010 meeting, King Abdullah had pledged financial support to him.

He claimed that four donation letters from Arab leaders issued between Feb 1, 2011, and June 1, 2014, pledged donations of USD100 million, USD375 million, USD800 million, and GBP50 million, respectively.

All these donation letters were purportedly addressed to Najib's residence in Jalan Langgak Duta, Taman Duta, Kuala Lumpur, and were printed on letterhead bearing the name Saud Abdulaziz bin Majid Al Saud.

Meanwhile, Kamal Baharin raised concerns regarding discrepancies in Najib's witness statements in this trial and the case involving SRC International Sdn Bhd, particularly regarding the actions of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.

The DPP emphasised that, during the SRC trial, Najib testified that the four donation letters from Arab leaders were received from Jho Low, who informed him that King Abdullah would donate between USD100 million and USD200 million.

However, in the present trial, Najib testified that the four donation letters were received from his late former principal private secretary, Datuk Azlin Alias and that Jho Low informed him that King Abdullah would provide a donation of USD1 billion.

Kamal Baharin: I assert that what you stated in your witness statement in the SRC case differs from what you have testified in this trial.

Najib: On the surface, there is a difference. I will explain during the re-examination by the defence team.

On Oct 30 of last year, Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah ordered Najib to enter his defence, ruling that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against him.

Najib faces 25 charges, including four counts of using his position to receive RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds as bribes and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.

The trial will continue.

-- BERNAMA