KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) senior officer told the High Court today that Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak did not disclose information about his meeting with the late King Abdullah Abdul Aziz Al-Saud King of Saudi Arabia during his interrogation in 2018.
Najib’s meeting with the late King Abdullah allegedly took place in January 2010, and he was accompanied by the then Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Malaysia’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia at the time, Profesor Datuk Syed Omar Alsagoff and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom.
Nur Aida Ariffin, 37, the investigating officer in Najib’s case involving the misappropriation of funds from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), told the court that she did not record the statements from Cabinet ministers who attended the meeting because the issue never arose.
“No issue (regarding the failure to record statements from the Cabinet ministers) because Najib’s statement to the MACC also did not mention them. This issue only arose during the SRC trial,” she said when cross-examined by lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, representing Najib.
According to the 49th prosecution witness, Najib should have informed the investigating officer of his meeting with the late King Abdullah when he was summoned to provide statements to MACC to defend himself.
Through his defence in the case of misappropriation of funds belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd, Najib said he believed the money he received in his accounts was a donation following his meeting with King Abdullah in Riyadh along with several ministers.
During Najib’s SRC trial in February 2020, Jamal Khir testified that the Malaysian government, through Najib, applied for a donation from Saudi Arabia, adding that the money was not an offer made by the Kingdom.
According to Jamal Khir, he knew about the donation application but stressed that the matter was never discussed in Cabinet meetings as it was not an administrative matter.
The former minister said the donation was kept from public knowledge because it was personally given to Najib.
Najib, 70, faces four charges of using his position (as prime minister) to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The hearing before Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.
