In his testimony during the ongoing trial related to the 1MDB scandal, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak denied soliciting assistance from Saudi Arabia for his stepson, Riza Aziz. Najib asserted that his communication with the Saudi Crown Prince in 2016 centered around formalizing a pre-existing loan agreement for Riza's film production company, not financial assistance. This contradicts the prosecution's argument based on a transcript of the conversation, which allegedly indicates a request to legitimize funds received by Riza, potentially linked to money laundering. The trial also witnessed a heated exchange between Najib and the former 1MDB chairman, Tan Sri Mohd. Bakke Salleh, regarding the latter's failure to personally inform Najib about alleged financial misconduct within 1MDB.
Former Prime Minister Najib Razak has denied requesting assistance from Saudi Arabia for his stepson, Riza Aziz , who was previously linked to the alleged embezzlement of funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad ( 1MDB ). Instead, Najib stated that his conversation with the Saudi Crown Prince, referred to as 'Your Highness,' in 2016 focused primarily on establishing a loan agreement previously granted to the film producer of the movie 'Wolf of Wall Street.
' Last week, during cross-examination, the prosecution presented a transcript of Najib's conversation with Sheikh Mohamed Zayed, which allegedly included a 'request' for a loan agreement to legitimize funds received by Riza, purportedly laundered money. 'This (phone call) was to make the loan that Riza had already paid for official. It was also to solidify what had been stated previously during our lunch. (The Crown Prince) stated he wanted to invest in Riza's film production,' said Najib. There are nine audio recordings presented in court throughout the trial, which also involve conversations between Najib and the Crown Prince. Furthermore, the former Umno President asserted that the former 1MDB chairman, Tan Sri Mohd. Bakke Salleh, should not have sent text messages for such a serious matter. Instead, Najib claimed that Mohd. Bakke should have personally met with him to inform him about the alleged financial misconduct within 1MDB. During a previous hearing, Mohd. Bakke testified that he had sent an SMS to Najib informing him about the financial misconduct occurring in 1MDB but received no response from the former Prime Minister. Due to the lack of response, Mohd. Bakke assumed that Najib was also involved in the misconduct. Elaborating on the SMS, its content pertained to two payments, each amounting to US$700 million and US$300 million, for the joint venture 1MDB-PetroSaudi Ltd. 'You don't send SMS to the Prime Minister about serious matters like that, you should brief me if you think it's serious. As you know, I've always treated him (Bakke) well. Even though he resigned (from 1MDB at the end of 2009), I gave him a position in Felda (becoming the CEO of Felda Global Ventures Berhad or FGV) and he received a Tan Sri (title) from the Agong, I recommended him,' said Najib. The trial, presided over by Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah, will continue tomorrow
Najib Razak 1MDB Saudi Arabia Riza Aziz Money Laundering Trial Mohd. Bakke Salleh
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