KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 11): An associate of fugitive businessman Jho Low was the one who had instructed the return of the infamous Saudi "donation", the High Court was told on Tuesday.
Najib’s longtime assertion that he sent back the unused US$620 million of the US$681 million he received does not square with the instruction to the bank from Eric Tan Kim Loong, offshore asset recovery specialist Angela Barkhouse testified.
Barkhouse also said the funds returned to Tanore Finance Corporation were allegedly related to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
Najib received US$681 million in his AmBank account in March 2013 from Tanore Finance Corp, beneficially controlled by Tan, before US$620 million was transferred out of Najib’s account in August 2013. Najib has long maintained that this was a return of a Saudi “donation”.
However, the fund has since been found to have originated from 1MDB.
Barkhouse was asked by Najib’s counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah during cross-examination about the return of the fund because the general election was over and the amount he needed was only a fraction of the US$681 million.
Shafee: Are you aware that this is the sole reason this transaction happened?
Barkhouse: That does not reconcile with the instruction by Eric Tan to return the monies, which was claimed to be related to SRC International.
Shafee: That doesn't make sense to me at all. That's the first time that we are hearing it. But the US$620 million being returned because the election was over. Are you aware of that?
Barkhouse: I am only aware that the funds were returned, not why.
She also agreed with Shafee that the US$620 million was not rerouted to return to Najib, but said she had no knowledge of why Najib returned the money.
Shafee asserted that Barkhouse’s evidence concerning Tan was hearsay as he was not present to testify, but Barkhouse maintained that her evidence was based on transaction documents.
When asked about Najib’s claim that the money was an Arab donation, Barkhouse said she could not comment.
Shafee: Do you agree with me that the US$620 million was returned for the reason my client has provided, that the election was over and he was uncomfortable holding that much in his account. He returned it to the sender, hoping that the sender was part of the donor of the Arab donation. Now, isn't that consonant with the claim that he thought there was an Arab donation?
Barkhouse: I can't comment on that.
Previously, Kroll Advisory Ltd investigations director Richard Templeman said in his witness statement that US$620 million from the Tanore account to Najib’s AmBank account on March 12 followed by US$61 million on March 25, 2013.
Tanore received back the US$620 million on Aug 26, 2013.
The civil suit filed by 1MDB is one of two against Najib, which centres on allegations that he breached his fiduciary duties and abused his positions as prime minister, finance minister, and chairman of 1MDB’s board of advisers, causing the government company to suffer massive losses.
The suit, brought together with three 1MDB subsidiaries, seeks to recover losses allegedly arising from the 1MDB scandal claiming that Najib played a central role in approving or facilitating transactions that enabled the misappropriation of its funds.
Najib and six other former senior 1MDB staff, all of whom are still missing or have fled the country, were named as defendants by 1MDB in the suit seeking US$5.64 billion.
The other suit is the US$1.3 billion by SRC International. In March 2026, the Kuala Lumpur High Court held Najib civilly liable for massive financial losses at SRC International.
He was ordered to pay US$1.18 billion for investment losses and to return an additional US$120 million that entered his personal bank account. In May 2026, the court granted Najib a stay of execution on the payment pending the disposal of his appeal.