Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told the court today that the RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd which found its way into his personal accounts was put there by fugitive financier Low Taek Jho to disguise the latter's own purloining of billions of ringgit from 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
Najib, who was on the witness stand at the SRC trial, testified today that the Penang-born businessman who goes by Jho Low had intentionally siphoned money into the former premier's personal accounts so that he would not ask any questions about the financier's schemes.
He must have thought that if he didn't continue to ensure money in my account it would affect his relationship with me, more seriously it would lead me to uncover his scams, Najib said of Jho Low and the RM42 million in his account.
Najib also asserted that the RM42 million was a minuscule sum compared to the billions of ringgit that Jho Low had made off with.
The former prime minister also said Jho Low had seen him as an investment where the businessman continued to benefit.
He did it to ensure I had faith in him. RM42 million is minuscule compared to what he did. He saw this as an investment to continue to benefit, he said.
Najib was answering questions put forth to him by his lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah during the re-examination of the Pekan MP.
Shafee then asked Najib why Jho Low would want to scam him by crediting money into his personal accounts, a question the prosecution had also asked Najib during the cross-examination.
"If he did not ensure that the purported donation money was in my account, I would start getting suspicious of my cheques bouncing, that would mean I would ask questions and investigate. I would have found out that this was a scam," Najib said, adding that he had only found out about Jho Low's schemes when he was questioned by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and throughout the course of the trial.
Najib was then allowed to stand down as the first defence witness. He had taken the witness stand on Dec 3 last year.
Najib faces multiple counts of criminal breach of trust, money laundering and abuse of power, involving a total of RM42 million SRC funds.
He is alleged to have received RM27 million and RM5 million on Dec 26, 2014, and another RM10 million on Feb 10, 2015.
The Edge
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