PUTRAJAYA (Feb 12): Former religious affairs minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom on Wednesday claimed that he was privy to a conversation between the then-Saudi ruler King Abdullah and then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, where the king had promised to personally make donations to Najib’s private bank accounts, as both men shared a “father and son” bond.
Testifying as the seventh defence witness in Najib’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)-Tanore trial, Jamil said he had heard the king’s promise to Najib as they were interacting like father and son during their January 2010 meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah died in 2015.
Jamil testified that he was part of the entourage that had followed Najib to the unofficial meeting with King Abdullah, and it was there that Najib had conveyed Malaysia’s request for financial assistance from Saudi Arabia.
Jamil said that after the meeting, the king and Najib had taken a walk together “hand-in-hand”, away from those who were in attendance at the meeting. They were walking towards the middle of the hall when, according to Jamil, Najib had signalled for him to join them.
Jamil said that he went, but stood at an arm's length, but near enough so he could hear the conversation between the king and Najib. Those in that private discussion were King Abdullah, Najib and the Saudi ruler’s interpreter.
“If I’m not mistaken, King Abdullah mentioned that he would be sending this financial contribution not long after the meeting date, and he said that this fund would be channelled via a personal account of Najib due to certain reasons,” Jamil said.
He said that he understood that the donation was to be sent personally to Najib to avoid complications which may come with channelling the money to a political party or entity.
He also added that besides what he heard about the king wanting to donate money to Najib, he had noticed that Najib and the king were very close.
“I consider that the way they walked, talked, and interacted with each other — it looked like the way a father interacts with his son,” Jamil said.
Jamil said that King Abdullah had several reasons for giving Najib donations, including to ensure Malaysia’s continued stability as a moderate Islamic nation by strengthening Najib’s position as prime minister in the then-upcoming 2013 elections.
Najib is currently facing 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power for alleged misappropriation of RM2.28 billion of 1MDB funds.
Najib has contended that the funds which entered his private AmIslamic Bank accounts were not 1MDB’s money, and has insisted that he believed the money was sent to him as donations from Saudi Arabia.
The trial continues on Thursday before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.
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