Najib reveals bank transfer documents on S$137.9m donation from Saudi royalty

(Today Online) – Former prime minister Najib Razak released documents on Monday (Sept 10) that he claimed proved Saudi Arabian royalty donated US$100 million (S$137.9 million) to him in 2011, as he promised to explain soon other donations, including the controversial RM2.6 billion (S$864 million) that were channelled into his personal accounts.

In a Facebook post, the former prime minister published several documents detailing several transfer of funds into his personal bank account from one Prince Faisal Turkey Al Saud totalling US$20 million and US$80 million from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance, as well as a letter from Saudi Prince Abdul Aziz Al-Saud.

“In view of the friendship that we have developed over the years and your new ideas as a modern Islamic leader, I hereby grant you a sum of United States Dollars One Hundred Million (USD100,000,000) Only (“Gift”) which shall be remitted to you at such times and in such manner as I deem fit,” Prince Abdul Aziz was quoted saying in the letter dated February 1, 2011, addressed to Najib’s Duta residence.

“You shall have absolute discretion to determine how the Gift shall be utilised and I am confident that your actions will continue to promote Islam so it continues to flourish. This is merely a small gesture on my part but it is my way of contributing to the development of Islam to the world.

“This letter is issued as a gesture of good faith and for clarification, I do not expect to receive any personal benefit whether directly or indirectly as a result of the Gift. The Gift should not in any event be construed as an act of corruption since this is against the practice of Islam and I personally do not encourage such practices in any manner whatsoever.”

The letter from Prince Abdul Aziz expressed how the Saudi royal family were impressed with Najib’s work in leading a Muslim country using Muslim principles.

It also detailed the importance in introducing Islam to the world following the Sept 11 attacks in the United States, and how the Saudi royal family were impressed with Najib’s suggestion to form the Global Movement of the Moderates during the United Nations general assembly in New York in 2011.

The scanned documents provided by Najib showed a US$10 million deposit that was made into Najib’s account on February 23 2011, another US$10 million on June 13 2011, a sum of US$49,999,988 on August 18 2011, and an additional US$29,999,988 deposited on November 25 the same year. The exchange rates used varied across transfers.

According to the documents, the transfers had come from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance and from one Prince Faisal Turkey Al-Saud.

He had also explained in his post that the Saudi royal family had made the donation following the uprising of the Arab Spring in late 2010 among Muslim countries in the Middle East and sections in Africa. He said the late King Abdullah was “very concerned” at the time and wanted to fund leaders and Muslim governments to ensure stability.

“The king was concerned after knowing that there was a possibility of a Malaysian Spring, as Malaysia was also a Muslim country although it was not in the Middle East or Africa.

“Due to these concerns as well as our close relationship, in early 2011, the king promised to prepare funds for me and the party to be used in Malaysia,” he said.

Najib said he and his lawyer spent a long time to obtain the bank statements and documents, just for the 2011 donations alone.

The late King Abdullah had also made it a point for the donations not be published for mass consumption.

“However considering I am no more the Prime Minister, and King Abdullah has passed on, I feel the time is right for me to reveal these documents to vindicate myself from the accusations and slander,” he said in the posting.

Najib also revealed a majority of the funds through the donations were used for the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

“The money was used to purchase several vans for Umno in Johor, but unfortunately those vans have been auctioned off by the Pakatan Harapan government,” he said.

Najib, 65, is facing seven criminal charges over funds belonging to SRC International totalling RM42 million, namely three CBT charges, one charge of abuse of power and three charges of money laundering. He claimed trial to all the charges and was released on RM1 million bail with two sureties.

Najib had in his posting included that future Facebook postings, or possibly interviews with the media, would further reveal contributions he had received over the years beginning 2011, including the controversial RM2.6 billion allegedly misappropriated from state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

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Sebagaimana pemberian hadiah tidak ternilai, kelambu Kaabah – kain kiswah Kaabah dan tambahan kuota haji 20,000 daripada Almarhum Raja Abdullah pada 2010 di mana baginda turut meminta agar ia tidak diwarwarkan, baginda juga bersetuju untuk membantu parti saya dengan pembiayaan.

Ini berlaku selepas Kebangkitan Arab atau Arab Spring pada lewat 2010 di kalangan negara Islam di Timur Tengah dan Afrika termasuk negara sekutu Arab Saudi.

Almarhum Raja Abdullah sangat bimbang ketika itu dan bertindak membiayai pemimpin dan kerajaan negara Islam dengan sejumlah wang yang banyak bagi mengekalkan kestabilan. Pada masa itu, harga minyak paling tinggi dan Arab Saudi memperoleh pendapatan yang banyak hasil darinya.

Baginda juga mempunyai kebimbangan yang sama selepas mendapat tahu kemungkinan berlaku Malaysia Spring pada ketika itu kerana Malaysia juga negara Islam biarpun bukan berada di Timur Tengah atau Afrika.

Lantaran kebimbangan dan hubungan akrab kami, pada awal 2011, baginda berjanji untuk turut menyediakan dana kepada saya dan parti bagi kegunaan di Malaysia. Seperti kain kiswah dan kuota haji tambahan, sumbangan ini juga tidak mahu dihebahkan. Terdapat beberapa orang saksi pada masa itu ketika janji ini disampaikan.

Saya kemudian dapati jumlah pembiayaan yang dijanjikan untuk beberapa tahun itu adalah lebih rendah daripada negara jiran Arab Saudi yang terjejas teruk daripada Arab Spring.

Memandangkan saya bukan lagi Perdana Menteri dan Raja Abdullah telah mangkat (Al-Fatihah), saya rasa adalah bersesuaian untuk saya dedahkan dokumen berikut bagi membersihkan nama saya dari pelbagai tuduhan dan fitnah.

Saya bersama peguam mengambil masa yang agak lama untuk memperolehi dokumen ini daripada bank namun kami berjaya mendapatkan sebahagian besar darinya. Dokumen berikut adalah bagi sumbangan tahun 2011 sahaja. Pihak berkuasa dan bank ada dokumen yang sama.

Pada 1 Februari 2011, Putera Abdulaziz Al-Saud menulis kepada saya, memberitahu bahawa Arab Saudi akan menyediakan US$100 juta (RM415 juta) kepada saya bagi tahun 2011.

Dokumen pemindahan wang SWIFT bagi tahun 2011 menunjukkan yang US$20 juta dipindahkan daripada akaun Putera Faisal bin Turkey bin Al Saud dan US$80 juta dipindahkan daripada akaun Kementerian Kewangan Arab Saudi kepada saya.

Sebahagian besar dana yang saya terima digunakan bagi tujuan politik BN. Sebagai contoh, saya telah berikan dana ini kepada UMNO Johor bagi membeli beberapa van. Malangnya, kerajaan PH baru-baru ini telah menyita van-van ini.

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