KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak did not divulge to investigators during interrogation of a purported 2010 informal meeting between a Malaysian delegation and then Saudi Ruler King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al-Saud in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the High Court was told.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Senior Superintendent Nur Aida Arifin said this while testifying as the 49th prosecution witness in Najib’s trial over the misappropriation of 1MDB’s RM2.27 billion here.
Accordingly, the aforementioned meeting was held in January 2010 where Najib met King Abdullah with several other individuals namely, former Malaysian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Datuk Syed Omar Al Saggaf and former ministers Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
Under cross-examination by Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, Nur Aida said individuals who attended the meeting did not have their statements recorded as part of her investigation since the claim was only raised by Najib in a separate criminal trial after his interrogation.
Earlier, Muhammad Shafee suggested to Nur Aida that Najib’s defence — as tendered in the SRC International trial — was grounded on the latter’s genuine belief that the monies received into Najib’s bank accounts were not from 1MDB but a pledge of monetary support from the Saudi royal family.
“There were no issues arising over the named individuals, at the time of his (Najib) defence during the investigation there was no recounting of such a meeting taking place in Saudi Arabia.
“It is only up until the SRC International trial that these names arose,” she said.
When pressed by Muhammad Shafee as to why she did not pursue the matter further as part of her investigative responsibilities, Nur Aida said she was not given additional instructions to obtain said testimonies from prosecutors.
She later affirmed that Najib — under MACC custody in 2018 — was asked about the source of the monies during his interrogation but the former prime minister only related that much to investigators without disclosing further details on the purported meeting.
“He had opportunities to provide a detailed explanation as we do not impose any limitations. It is for him to bring it up to defend himself,” she said.
During Najib’s defence in the SRC trial, Syed Omar — a defence witness — had recalled how King Abdullah had praised Malaysia’s administration that practised moderate Islam and expressed worry at the political upheavals in other Islamic countries which led to the Arab Spring.
He claimed King Abdullah subsequently offered his assistance to “ensure” the same administration continued to rule Malaysia in the upcoming 2013 general election, lest the Arab Spring effect spread to South-east Asia.
Imprisoned since August 23, 2022, Najib is serving a 12-year jail sentence for the misappropriation of SRC International’s RM42 million funds. This was recently reduced to six years of jail and a RM50 million fine, from the initial RM210 million, by the Pardons Board.
Najib’s 1MDB trial before trial judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes tomorrow.
