1mdb Trial Prosecution Says Arab Donation Claim Is Fiction Najib Deliberately Shut His Eyes To Rm2b Source

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Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is pictured at the Kuala Lumpur High Court Complex June 20, 2025. — Picture by Yusof Mat IsaPUTRAJAYA, Oct 30 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s claim that Saudi Arabia had donated RM2 billion to him is just a fictional story, as bank transactions showed that the money originally belonged to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the prosecution told the High Court today.
Deputy public prosecutor Datuk Kamal Baharin Omar said bank records showed a 1MDB subsidiary’s money flowing through various other bank accounts, with sums totalling US$681 million (RM2.081 billion) eventually flowing from Tanore Finance Corp to Najib’s personal AmIslamic bank account between March and April 2013.
“The defence of ‘Arab donation’ is a fiction, contradicted by the financial records and unsupported by independent evidence,” he said in Najib’s 1MDB trial.
Najib has claimed that the late Saudi ruler King Abdullah had in 2010 promised to give him personal donations, and asserted that four “donation letters” — from a Saudi royal named Prince Saud promising gifts of money — support this claim.
However, Kamal Baharin listed multiple reasons why the prosecution says the Saudi donation claim is not credible, and zeroed in on the third purported donation letter dated March 1, 2013.
This includes the lack of any verification by officials or witnesses from Saudi Arabia that this purported donation letter is genuine.
Kamal Baharin highlighted multiple issues with this 2013 letter, including it being stated as issued by the “Saud Abdul Aziz Al-Saud Private Office” instead of King Abdullah or the king’s office; and its use of Najib’s personal home address instead of the prime minister’s official residence’s address.
He also pointed out that this purported 2013 donation letter did not make any reference to the alleged 2010 meeting between King Abdullah and Najib, and also did not link the promised financial gift to the 2010 event. 
He said Najib never verified who Saud Abdul Aziz Al-Saud was and whether he was acting on behalf of King Abdullah, and that Najib did not ask where the letter or money came from.
“Despite his belief that the money came from Saudi Arabia, he sought no confirmation from Saudi authorities.
“As prime minister and finance minister, he had the means to verify the transfers but failed to do so,” Kamal Baharin said.
To defend himself in the 1MDB trial, Najib claimed he did not know that the RM2 billion that entered his accounts was from illegal sources.
But Kamal Baharin said Najib had purposely avoided checking where the huge sums of money came from.
“Therefore, the defence of ignorance must fail. The evidence shows that the accused was not an unwitting victim, but a deliberate beneficiary who avoided asking questions because the answers would implicate him,” he said.
Kamal Baharin said Najib had “deliberately shut his eyes” to where the money came from, and he was not innocent but was consciously avoiding the issue.
This meant Najib was wilfully blind, and this would mean he knew or had “reason to believe” that illegal money was entering his accounts, he said.
While Najib said he did not receive alerts from AmIslamic Bank or Bank Negara Malaysia about the money coming into his account, Kamal Baharin said Najib still has the duty and responsibility as the owner of his bank account to verify that the funds were lawful.
In this trial, Najib is accused of money laundering, including by receiving illegal money when US$681 million originally belonging to 1MDB was sent to his account.
The prosecution today completed its submissions after having spent the equivalent of one day in court doing so.
Najib’s lawyers have previously spent more than six days defending him and had this afternoon begun its reply to the prosecution’s arguments.
Tomorrow is expected to be the final day of submission of arguments in the 1MDB trial, with the High Court then expected to fix a date to deliver its decision on whether Najib is guilty or not of the 25 charges against him.




- malaymail

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