KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak had no reason to suspect the RM2 billion deposited into his personal bank account was anything other than a generous donation from the Saudi royal family, the High Court heard today.
Najib's lawyer Tania Scivetti said Najib's belief in the legitimacy of the funds was well-founded, with AmBank, one of the nation's largest banks, not raising any red flags when processing the transaction.
"RM2 billion is not a small amount that would go unnoticed and undetected.
"The sheer amount would be subject to scrutiny not just by the compliance department in AmBank but also by the sender's compliance department, in this case, Tanore Financial Corporation (Tanore).
"The transaction was also notified to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), which would certainly freeze any account if there were any suspicion of unlawful activity. However, no red flags were raised in this instance.
"This clearly shows that Najib had legitimate expectations that the money he received from Tanore was a genuine donation from Saudi Arabia, and not associated with any unlawful activity," she said.
It was revealed during the trial that Tanore is a shell company controlled by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low.
She said this when presenting the argument on why the court should acquit the former prime minister on abuse of power charges in relation to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) case before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
She said Najib had no reason to doubt the veracity of the donation letter or the identity of the donor, as both the banks had processed the transaction without any issue.
The lawyer was referring to the infamous letter, purportedly from Saudi royalty and signed by Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud, which was addressed to Najib to inform him about the donation.
Najib's defence team produced the letter to prove their contention that millions remitted into the former prime minister's personal bank account was a donation from the Saudi monarch.
"It is certainly reasonable for Najib, being the then prime minister, who was a 'politically exposed person' to rely on both Ambank and BNM to bring to his attention any suspicions regarding the source of the RM2 billion, again no red flags were raised.
"In regards to the donation letter, it specifically mentions that the donation of up to US$800 million will be remitted to Najib's account from Tanore and the sum of US$681 was indeed remitted from the company.
"He (Najib) believed that Tanore is a company belonging to King Abdullah or the Saudi Arabia Government as this is what is represented in the letter.
"If there was any irregularity or illegality in the source of the funds, my client would have expected the relevant authorities to alert him or take action, but none of that happened," she added.
Najib, 71, 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.
For the 21 charges of money laundering, the former Pekan member of parliament is accused of committing the offences between March 22, 2013, and Aug 30, 2013.
The trial continues tomorrow.