KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the RM114 million that was previously ordered to be returned by the court belongs to Umno, and is not part of his personal assets.
The jailed former prime minister, in his affidavit replying to 1Malaysia Development Bhd's (1MDB) suit against him, said the monies were returned to him recently following the dismissal of forfeiture proceedings initiated by the government.
The High Court, in May 2021, ruled that the Attorney-General's (A-G) Chambers had failed to prove that the money originated from 1MDB or funds obtained from a criminal breach of trust offence.
The monies were seized by police during a raid at Pavilion Residences in 2018, soon after the fall of the Najib-led Barisan Nasional (BN) administration.
Najib, in his affidavit, said he was entrusted with the said funds as then Umno president.
"Therefore, any non-disclosure as alleged is vehemently denied."
He said the RM114 million was returned to him because upon the dismissal, no order was made as to where the monies would be returned to.
"I also believe that the current Umno president, who is also the deputy prime minister, had confirmed via an affidavit at the material time that the RM114 million was the property of Umno and not mine."
Najib also denied holding back from disclosing his assets, saying some portions of his assets were not disclosed previously because the information was not available at the material time.
"However, the plaintiff is well aware that my counsel had informed the plaintiff's then instructing solicitor Datuk DP Naban that there were some outstanding disclosures that will be formalised in a further affidavit.
"This fact is crucial as it shows there is no attempt to hide my assets but rather a mere delay," he added.
On May 10, 2021, 1MDB filed a total of 22 suits against various parties, including Najib, to recover RM96.6 billion in assets, where six of the 22 writs were filed by 1MDB, while the remaining 16 were by its former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd.
The writs filed by 1MDB are against nine entities, including two foreign financial institutions and 25 individuals.
It was reported that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low had filed his defence to deny his involvement in one of 1MDB's suits, claiming that he did not have any position or legal standing to control 1MDB, which was fully owned by the government through the Ministry of Finance Incorporated.
On Dec 6 last year, the Court of Appeal affirmed the High Court's decision granting a Mareva injunction against SRC International and Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd to prevent Najib from transferring or dissipating of any of his assets totalling RM42 million.
The High Court granted the Mareva injunction and directed Najib not to remove, dispose of, deal with or diminish the value of any of their assets in and outside of Malaysia up to the value of RM42 million, pending the final determination of the suit filed against him.
Besides that, the former Pekan member of parliament is only entitled to withdraw up to RM100,000 per month for his living expenses and for payment of legal fees.
Najib, 70, is serving 12 years in prison after the Federal Court upheld his conviction as well as jail sentence and RM210 million fine for misappropriating RM42 million in SRC International funds.