KUALA LUMPUR — The High Court has ruled that the so-called Arab donation letters relied upon by Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s defence in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) misappropriation case are “fake”.
Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, in delivering his judgment, said the letters were never produced in their original form before the court.
“The original letters were never produced.
“There is also no evidence of any formal acknowledgment by the government or any political party to the purported donor, nor by the accused himself. Additionally, the alleged Arab donation letter was addressed to the accused’s private residence rather than to any official or party address,” the judge noted.
He added that no official record, minute, or evidence existed to document the alleged donation or to link the purported donor to any legitimate political activity.
This key finding was delivered by former High Court Judge, Collin, who has since been elevated to the Federal Court, as he read his judgment in the landmark case.
He also ruled that the former prime minister had made no verification to ensure that the funds he received had genuinely come from the late Saudi Arabian King Abdullah.
“The accused placed his trust in a wider circle within the royal family.
“The manner in which the funds were channelled was entirely left to King Abdullah… this does not strengthen the defence,” he added.
The transaction trail, the judge said, shows that the funds were channelled through third-party private companies Vista Equity, Blackstone, and Tanore, entities owned by the wanted financier Eric Tan.
Justice Collin was delivering his decision on four charges of abuse of power faced by Najib in the 1MDB trial, with proceedings beginning at 9.13am.
As of 11.45am, based on the judgment read out, the court was satisfied that the four abuse of power charges were neither vague, defective nor overlapping.
Earlier, Najib’s counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, requested a short adjournment, asking how long proceedings would last as his client needed to return to Kajang Prison to perform Friday prayers.
After nearly three hours of reading the judgment, Justice Sequerah adjourned the proceedings and fixed 3pm to resume, after Friday prayers.
Najib’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, was also present in court, wearing a pink baju kurung with a matching headscarf.
Najib, 72, is currently serving a prison sentence at Kajang Prison over the misappropriation of RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd.
After a 302-day trial spanning seven years, the High Court is set to deliver its decision today on Najib’s charges of abuse of power and money laundering involving RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds.
The high-profile trial drew international attention and involved 50 witnesses and nine days of oral submissions.
Key defence witnesses included former 1MDB chairman Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamarudin, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin’s sister Tengku Datuk Rahimah Sultan Mahmud, and former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom. — December 26, 2025
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