Saudi prince had no document on RM2.6-billion donation to Najib — Shukri
PUTRAJAYA: The Saudi Arabian prince who reportedly donated RM2.6 billion to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak failed to furnish documentary evidence in the matter, said the new Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull.
He said there was a letter to show that the donation came from a Saudi Arabian prince and based on that letter an MACC officer went to Saudi Arabia and the prince was “introduced to us”.
“Usually, we will look for the person to get a statement but this time someone introduced us to the ‘prince’,” he said without identifying the Saudi Arabian prince, at a special press conference at the MACC headquarters here.
Mohd Shukri said that at the meeting, the Saudi Arabian prince admitted making the RM2.6 billion donation to Najib but failed to produce the supporting document.
“He admitted that he donated RM2.6 billion, but when asked for the supporting document, he could not produce it. The standard operating procedure is that it must be supported by a document.
Mohd Shukri said the investigation into the alleged donation ceased after the Attorney-General rejected a MACC application for mutual legal assistance documents for the MACC to proceed with the probe.
“When we submitted (the application) to the AG (Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali), we asked him to give us the MLA (mutual legal assistance) documents for us to proceed to clarify whether this thing is true or not. We needed support, we needed evidence and we needed documents but the AG refused us the MLA.
“No one in this world is so generous as to give RM2.6 billion just like that, and this RM2.6 billion case is genuine,” he said.
Mohd Shukri was replying to questions pertaining to a statement issued by the MACC in August 2015 which stated that the RM2.6 billion which was deposited into Najib’s account was a donation and not from 1MDB. - Bernama