Cabinet told not to disclose Saudi prince's donation – witness
KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak as prime minister had claimed to the Cabinet in 2010 that the late Saudi crown prince had donated to 1Malaysia Development Berhad's charity arm Yayasan 1Malaysia Development Berhad (Yayasan 1MDB), a former senior government official who minuted Cabinet meetings told the High Court yesterday.
Former Cabinet deputy chief secretary Tan Sri Mazidah Abdul Majid, 72, said Najib had also asked the Cabinet not to publicise the purported donation.
Mazidah was testifying as the 11th prosecution witness in Najib's power abuse and money laundering trial involving more than RM2 billion of 1MDB funds.
Mazidah yesterday went through and verified Cabinet meeting minutes from as early as April 2009 on matters such as 1MDB's predecessor Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) before it was taken over by the federal government and turned into a state investment firm, as well as the September 8, 2010 Cabinet meeting minutes she prepared.
For the September 8, 2010 Cabinet meeting held at the prime minister's office in Putrajaya and chaired by Najib as the prime minister, Mazidah was present.
Mazidah said a special message by the prime minister titled “Sumbangan Dana Kepada Yayasan 1Malaysia Development Berhad” or donation to Yayasan 1MDB was presented at the meeting, with the Cabinet taking note of the prime minister's explanation that he was currently carrying out formal and informal engagement with certain quarters in Middle East nations who had given positive response towards many matters involving Malaysian interests.
Mazidah recorded the following from the September 2010 meeting: “Yang Amat Berhormat (prime minister) then notified and gave the following views: that the Saudi Arabia crown prince Sultan Abdul Aziz Al-Saud had notified Yang Amat Berhormat that he through his charity foundation agreed to donate to Yayasan 1Malaysia Development Berhad. The first donation has already been received and he promised to channel subsequent donations after this. Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz Al-Saud has asked for this donation not to be announced.”
Mazidah further quoted Najib as telling the Cabinet that more needy people could be helped and more corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes and projects could be done through Yayasan 1MDB with that “donation”, and that Najib had said Cabinet ministers could also give their proposals on CSR projects to be carried out in October 2010.
she said Najib had also told his Cabinet that the government has to be more “creative” in finding government sources and allocations outside of the existing framework of government revenue to provide greater flexibility for the government to help the public, and that this was why Yayasan 1MDB was set up to support the government's existing sources — especially to expand social programmes and projects.
Mazidah said the Cabinet agreed with Najib's views on the alleged Saudi “donation” and the need for the Malaysian government to seek more funds as well as Yayasan 1MDB's role, and that the Cabinet agreed “for the Saudi Arab government's donation to not be announced.”
Mazidah said that the minutes of the September 8, 2010 meeting were verified by the Cabinet on September 22, 2010, with then chief secretary to the government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, who was the Cabinet's secretary, and then deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin then signing off on them. Sidek had also attended the September 8 meeting.
According to the September 8, 2010 Cabinet meeting minutes produced in court yesterday, the ministers who did not attend the meeting were then home minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and then defence minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Mazidah joined the civil service in 1972, and was appointed in June 2000 as deputy chief secretary of the Cabinet, a post she continued to hold on contract until June 30, 2018 after her mandatory retirement in March 2005.