THE Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today that Datuk Seri Najib Razak received US$681 million allegedly to influence votes in preparation for the 13th general election (GE13) in 2013.
The amount is roughly about RM2.15 billion based on the average exchange rate between the US dollar and the ringgit (1:3.15) that year.
Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigating officer Nur Aida Arifin said the money was received from Tanore Finance Corporation, a company believed to be linked to the Saudi Arabian government through Falcon Bank Singapore, in 2013.
Nur Aida, who was assigned to investigate the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) fund embezzlement case, said the US$681 million was put into the former prime minister’s personal account at AmBank Bhd.
She said that her office also received another tipoff that Najib, who was then the chairman of the 1MDB Advisory Board, was suspected of receiving bribes amounting to RM3.2 billion through the investment fund for personal gain.
She said that the MACC received the first complaint on May 4, 2015 and the second on May 17, 2018.
An investigation was then opened under Section 16 of the MACC Act 2009 and Section 23 of the same act regarding the entry of large amounts of money into his two personal accounts between 2011 and 2014.
“I conducted an investigation based on documents obtained from several parties, including Bank Negara Malaysia, the Royal Malaysia, Police and the Ministry of Finance,” she said.
Najib was sworn in as Malaysia’s sixth prime minister on April 3, 2009, and reappointed to the post on May 6, 2013 after Barisan Nasional (BN) won 133 parliamentary seats in GE13.
Najib, 70, is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes amounting to RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.
The trial before Judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues. – The Vibes, January 2, 2023
