KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 23): It has always been former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's belief that the monies in his personal accounts were promised donations from the Middle East and not funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) or its subsidiary, SRC International Sdn Bhd.

Clarifying headlines from Thursday's news reports, the ex-PM's counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah said there may have been an accidental misconception of what transpired in court.

"To him, till today, [he has maintained that] the whole [sum of] money were [Arab] donations," the senior counsel said, adding that his client has never abandoned this stance from the start.

Shafee was referring to news reports of Thursday's civil suit brought against Najib by SRC and its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd concerning RM42 million of company funds which had ended up in the then-PM's accounts.

The funds are the same as in the SRC criminal case where the ex-PM is currently serving his prison sentence after the courts had found and upheld that he was guilty of criminal breach of trust, money laundering, and abuse of power.

Najib was reported to have said that in hindsight, he agreed that the monies in his account did not originate from the donations. He has said similar statements in one of his other criminal trials as well — the 1MDB-Tanore trial, for which he has also been found guilty. 

Najib was on the stand in his defence and was replying to a series of questions during cross-examination by SRC's counsel Kwan Will Sen.

On Friday, Shafee said that there could have been an accidental misunderstanding as to how a witness' answer is derived in civil proceedings.

"When you cross-examine, you will have to accommodate in order to answer the question [put to him]. But [Najib] has never abandoned his stance," he said, adding that the press conference was to clarify any doubts.

During Thursday's civil proceedings, Kwan had referred to the High Court, Court of Appeal, and the Federal Court's decision in the SRC case, where all the courts had rejected the "Arab donation" claim.

The lawyer from Lim Chee Wee Partnership had also referred to the recent 1MDB-Tanore trial, where a separate High Court had found that Najib's donation defence had no merit and that the letters produced to back his claim were forged.

Kwan had then asked Najib to confirm the court’s findings. After some back and forth, the ex-PM confirmed the court’s decisions on the donation.

Kwan: Now, just to close the loop on this whole position of the Saudi donation, and again, I want to go back to what I've said earlier on. At this very moment, do you still maintain that the RM42 million is from the Saudi donation?

Najib: At that particular time, I thought it was still a Saudi donation.

Kwan: My question is, on this very day... So, just to be extremely clear, your position, or the truth in your mind, if I can use those words, at this moment, is that the [RM]42 million has nothing to do with the Saudi donation?

“Based on subsequent knowledge, yes,” Najib said, confirming his agreement with Kwan’s statement.

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Najib now agrees 'Saudi donation' was false