KUALA LUMPUR – The high court here today was told that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) was not satisfied with the investigation conducted against two Saudi princes in Riyadh regarding the RM2.3 billion in funds that were deposited into Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal accounts in 2015.
MACC senior superintendent Nur Aida Arifin said this was because the meeting held at the Riyadh palace did not bear fruit following the lack of supporting documents presented by the two individuals to ensure the authenticity of the four letters linked to the donations allegedly given by the Saudi royal family to the former prime minister.
“There is no document showing that the transaction related to the funds deposited into Najib’s accounts came from the two Saudi princes,” she said during the cross-examination by Najib’s lead counsel, Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, at the former prime minister’s corruption and money laundering trial involving RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds today.
The prosecution’s 49th witness explained that the two princes also did not testify regarding the alleged funds that went into Najib’s account due to royal protocol.
“They only show passports for identification purposes and no photocopies were provided,” she said.
According to Nur Aida, the MACC officials who went to Riyadh at that point in time were assistant commissioner Mohd Nasharudin Amir, director of MACC Anti-Money Laundering and Forfeiture of Properties Division Fikri Ab Rahim and deputy chief commissioner Datuk Seri Azam Baki, along with Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad, who was representing the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
Nur Aida also agreed to Shafee’s suggestion that all of them (MACC officers) could be called as witnesses in this case because they were the officers who met the two Saudi princes and were relevant to this trial.
Najib, 70, faces four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion of 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues tomorrow. – April 22, 2024