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THE Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today that former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak kept millions of funds he allegedly received from a Saudi monarch as a contingency plan after the 13th General Election in 2013.
He had allegedly kept a portion of the purported “Arab donation” as a contingency to prevent his Barisan Nasional government from collapsing through the defection of MPs.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) senior officer Nur Aida Arifin said Najib told her this during investigations into his alleged misappropriation of billions from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds.
She said this when re-examination by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, who asked if money kept in Najib’s account had been used for political purposes.
Aida then read a portion of Najib’s statement to MACC.
"Immediately after the 13th general election (GE13), the funds could not be utilised fully because spending was already sufficient.
“As to the remaining funds after GE13, I kept them in my bank account temporarily as a contingency in the extraordinary event there was a repeat of the September 16, 2008 when there were attempts by the opposition to bring down the BN government by asking MPs to defect,” Nur Aida said in reading out excerpts from Najib’s statement to the MACC provided in 2018 to the open court.
She said Najib also opted to return the funds to an entity appointed by the Saudi government – Tanore Finance Corp. as they were no longer necessary for election expenses or contingency spending as mentioned earlier.
"He was concerned that keeping such a substantial amount in his account could invite various perceptions if it were to leak.
"He claimed he did not know who the real owner or beneficiary owner of Tanore was and assumed it was owned by the government of Saudi Arabia and its representatives," she said.
On September 16, 2008, then Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed that he would be able to take federal power with the defection of at least 30 MPs from BN after the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat coalition ― comprising PKR, DAP and PAS ― won 82 out of 222 seats in Parliament.
In March 2008, the BN coalition lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament for the first time in a national election and five states to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.
Despite this, BN still managed to form the federal government under then prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with Najib as deputy prime minister then.
Najib, 70, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totalling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
Hearing before presiding judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues. - The Vibes, May 30, 2024.