Zahid personally confirmed the RM2.6 billion came from the Saudi royal family
All this had already been explained seven years ago, but Melayu mudah lupa, as Dr Mahathir is fond of saying. Why is the issue of the RM2.6 billion still an issue? And why are Zahid and Zeti tight-lipped and not confirming what they know? Is Najib being thrown under the bus?
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Back in 2015, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told many people that he had flown to Saudi Arabia and met members of the Saudi Arabian royal family to discuss the RM2.6 billion that they gave then Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Zahid claimed he had personally seen the documents to confirm this.
When Zahid told me this story, two other people were present in the hotel room in London.
Over ten years from 2007 to 2017, Saudi Arabia has donated a total of RM150 billion to various ASEAN countries. Since WAMY (World Assembly of Muslim Youth) was set up in 1972, it is estimated that RM1 trillion has been channelled to various world leaders, movements, associations, etc.
The United States was very concerned with this large movement of money that in May 2004, 50 FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Joint Terrorism Task Force agents raided WAMY’s office in the United States at Alexandria, Virginia, and seized its computers and hard drives.
In 2001, the United States named Anwar Ibrahim as another Malaysian who had received millions from Saudi Arabia via the United States, which was reported in the Australian media but not in Malaysia. In fact, before Anwar joined Umno in 1982, he had been receiving millions from WAMY through ABIM (Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia), which was set up in 1971.
Hence the RM2.6 billion that Saudi Arabia gave Najib is the SOP or modus operandi for Saudi Arabia to get world support. The fact that Saudi Arabia is an autocracy and does not hold democratic elections (plus practices the hard-line Salafi/Wahābī version of Islam), and yet is not criticised by the west or by other Muslim countries, proves this ‘buy-support-with-billions-in-donations’ tactic works.
More importantly, Najib was not sure how the RM2.6 billion should be brought into the country. So he discussed this with then Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
Zeti advised that if the money was banked into Umno’s bank account, that would create complications with the RoS, as the RM2.6 billion would need to reflect in the annual accounts. And how the money was spent would also need to be shown in the accounts. And if the money was spent on the elections, then the EC (SPR) might disqualify Umno’s and BN’s candidates for exceeding the allowed spending limit in the elections.
The safest thing would be to not involve Umno and the general elections and instead bank the RM2.6 billion into Najib’s personal bank account. Then the RoS and SPR would not be involved.
All this had already been explained seven years ago, but Melayu mudah lupa, as Dr Mahathir is fond of saying. Why is the issue of the RM2.6 billion still an issue? And why are Zahid and Zeti tight-lipped and not confirming what they know? Is Najib being thrown under the bus?
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Najib shares documents to prove RM2.6 bil was Saudi donation
(NST, 10 Sep 2018) – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Monday revealed several documents related to funds channelled to him by the late Saudi king, King Abdullah Abdulaziz, to confirm that the RM2.6 billion he received was indeed a donation from the Saudi royal family.
Via his Facebook account, Najib shared three documents from King Abdullah, one of which bore the words ‘Recognition of Contribution to the Islamic World’, dated Feb 1, 2011.
Two other documents were financial transaction statements dated Feb 24, 2011 and on Nov 25 the same year.
He said he was sharing the documents to clear his name of accusations and slander.
Najib said he and his lawyer spent a long time to obtain the bank statements and documents, just for the 2011 donations alone.
“On February 1, 2011, Prince Abdulaziz Al-Saud wrote to me to tell me that the Saudi government will prepare US$100 juta (RM415 million) for me in 2011.
“The documents for the SWIFT money transfer for 2011 showed that US$20 million was transferred from the account of Prince Faisal Turkey Al Saud and US$80 million was transferred from the Saudi Finance Ministry to me,” he said.
Najib said the letter was the first of several to be sent by the prince to him, followed by more donations over the next few years.
He said the funds came after the Arab Spring incident in late 2010 involving several Muslim countries in the Middle East, Africa and Saudi allies.
“The late King Abdullah was very concerned at the time and acted to fund leaders and Muslim governments in order to ensure stability.
“At the time, the price of oil was at an all-time high and the Saudi government had derived a huge income as a result.
“The king was concerned after knowing that there was a possibility of a Malaysian Spring, as Malaysia was also a Muslim country although it was not in the Middle East or Africa.
“Due to these concerns as well as our close relationship, in early 2011, the king promised to prepare funds for me and the party to be used in Malaysia,” he said.
Najib said apart from financial aid, King Abdullah also presented other gifts such as part of the Kiswah shroud from the Kaabah. The king also increased the Malaysian pilgrims haj quota to 20,000 places and asked for the matter not to be publicised.
“There were several witnesses when this promise was made.
“I later found that the funds promised over several years were much lower than those received by Saudi neighbours who were badly affected by the Arab Spring,” he said.
Najib said a copy of the letter was attached with the funds transferred to his Ambank bank account over several years. He said neither the bank nor Bank Negara Malaysia ever questioned or stated their concerns over the donations.
“The Saudi Foreign Ministry had twice confirmed openly that their government had presented a donation to me without conditions.
“Around two months ago, (prime minister) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was disappointed when the Saudi government declined to deny that the RM2.6 billion was indeed a donation to me.
“One month later, the Pakatan Harapan government closed the King Salman Centre for International Peace in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.
Najib said he would continue to explain in detail, and reveal more evidence of the funds he received after 2011, including on the RM2.6 billion issue via media interviews and his Facebook page.
