Najib believed RM2 billion was a Saudi donation, court told

Najib believed RM2 billion was a Saudi donation, court told

Bernama

01/10/2024


Datuk Seri Najib Razak's counsel said AmBank's compliance department processed funds based on letters claiming they were donations from Arab royalty. - BERNAMA/Filepic

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court today was told that Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak believe that the RM2 billion donation from Saudi Arabia was not unreasonable as Ambank, the bank which handled the transaction, had processed the funds under the understanding that they were a legitimate donation.

Najib's counsel Tania Scivetti submitted that AmBank, as one of the major financial institutions, had a dedicated compliance department that processed the funds based on letters which purportedly supported the claim that the money originated from an Arab royalty as a donation.

"The defence argues that this situation lent credibility to Najib's belief that the funds were a lawful gift rather than proceeds from illicit activities.

"It must be emphasised that 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 Finance Corporation," said Scivetti when making her submission at the close of the prosecution's case before Justice Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

Tanore is a company controlled by Eric Tan Kim Loong, who is alleged to be an associate of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low.

The monies are in reference to the US$620 million (RM2.27 billion), which is the subject matter of the former prime minister's four abuse of power charges.

Scivetti further argued that the sum of RM2 billion was also notified to Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), which would have frozen the account if there had been any suspicion of unlawful activity.

"However, no red flags were raised in this instance. This clearly shows that Datuk Seri Najib had a legitimate expectation that the money he received from Tanore was a genuine donation from Saudi Arabia and not associated with any unlawful activity.

"He 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. If there were any irregularity or illegality in the source of the funds, Datuk Seri Najib would have expected the relevant authorities to alert him or take action, but none of that happened," said the lawyer.

Najib, 71, faces four charges of abusing his position to obtain RM2.3 billion from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds at the AmIslamic Bank Berhad branch on Jalan Raja Chulan, Bukit Ceylon, between Feb 24, 2011, and Dec 19, 2014.

He also faces 21 money laundering charges involving the same amount at the same bank between March 22, 2013 and Aug 30, 2013.

Najib is charged under Section 23(1) of the MACC Act 2009 and Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act.

The submission continues tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA