KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that the millions deposited into his AmIslamic Bank account was a genuine donation from Saudi Arabia, as confirmed by former Saudi minister Adel Al-Jubair, the High Court heard today.
The former prime minister said Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Nur Aida Ariffin, during her testimony as a prosecution witness, revealed that representatives of Prince Faisal bin Turki Al Saud never denied the remittances were donations or questioned the authenticity of the accompanying letters from the Saudis.
"For all of these remittances, not once has either AmIslamic Bank or Bank Negara Malaysia red flagged any of these remittances as being suspicious.
"They never raised any inquiry with me about either the legitimacy of the donations or of the supporting documents that were forwarded to them.
Najib said prior to those remittances, he was personally informed by the late Saudi's monarch, the late King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud during a private audience with the latter in 2010.
"He (Abdullah) conveyed through the interpreters his intention that he would be supporting me financially and I have in fact received remittances from the Riyadh Bank Saudi Arabia.
"I have also received letters confirming this Saudi Arabian donation from King Abdullah through his royal representatives which were extended to AmBank and Bank Negara.
"It was on this basis and on the suggestion of my former private secretary, the late Datuk Azlin Alias, for me to open a bank account to receive these personal political donations.
"I agreed to open up accounts at AmIslamic Bank Berhad under my personal name.
"Later, on a different date, I was informed by Low Teak Jho that King Abdullah would be donating about US$1 billion," he said.
The former Pekan member of Parliament said he was informed by Azlin that the process and procedures for opening his bank account would be handled by AmIslamic Bank's former chief executive, Cheah Teck Kuang.
"I wanted to ensure full transparency. This I believe is a non-disputed fact in this trial," he added.
Najib, 71, faces 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.