The courtroom was filled with facts sharper than any fairy tale fantasy as Dato' Seri Najib Razak’s much-repeated claim of receiving a RM2 billion in “donation” from Saudi Arabia was described by the prosecution as pure fiction. Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Kamal Baharin Omar told the High Court that Najib’s so-called Arab donation story simply doesn’t hold up - not against the evidence found in bank records.
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According to the prosecution, the money trail speaks for itself. Funds from a 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) subsidiary travelled through a maze of bank accounts before reappearing neatly inside Najib’s personal AmIslamic account between March and April 2013 - a total of US$681 million, or RM2.081 billion. The alleged “donation” letters, said to have come from a Saudi royal named Prince Saud Abdul Aziz Al-Saud, provided no credible proof of authenticity.
Kamal Baharin listed glaring inconsistencies. The third letter, dated March 1, 2013, came not from King Abdullah or the royal court, but from something called the Saud Abdul Aziz Al-Saud Private Office. Even stranger, it was addressed to Najib’s home instead of the Prime Minister’s official residence. No Saudi official has verified the letter, no witness has confirmed the donation’s legitimacy, and no reference was made to any supposed meeting between King Abdullah and Najib in 2010 - a key part of Najib’s narrative.
Najib, however, claimed he genuinely believed the money came from Saudi Arabia. But as Kamal Baharin pointed out, the former prime minister - who was also the finance minister - never verified the transfers, never asked the bank, and never sought clarification from Saudi authorities. Kamal said Najib had deliberately shut his eyes, describing him as a deliberate beneficiary who avoided asking questions because the answers would implicate him.
In short, Najib’s defence of ignorance is being tested against the weight of evidence suggesting wilful blindness. It is not that he didn’t know - it is that he didn’t want to know.
In the end, Najib’s “Arab donation” story - once told with pristine confidence - may now be remembered as a political myth used to cover up his money laundering case, in which US$681 million originally belonging to 1MDB was transferred into his account: a reminder that even the grandest tales, when tested in court, must survive the scrutiny of evidence.
By: Kpost
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