“I only found out about the transactions after my statement was taken by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and after my lawyer obtained related banking documents from AmBank,” he said.

Najib, who was under an examination-in-chief by lawyer Rahmat Hazlan, confirmed the transactions after he was referred to several banking documents.

Najib said he was also shown letters from a representative of the late Saudi king relating to the funds the king had bestowed upon him.

“The letters were shown to me by my late principal private secretary Datuk Seri Azlin Alias who informed me that he had received the same letters from fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low.

“I understood that the letters were given to AmBank by Jho Low and they were also reported to Bank Negara and its governor then, Tan Sri Zeti Abdul Aziz,” he said.

The funds were to be used at his own discretion and were spent on corporate social responsibility as well as the general election that year to ensure Barisan Nasional would remain as the government of the day, Najib explained.

“As the Umno president and the Barisan Nasional chairman, I have been given the power to raise funds for the party and for expenses related to the general election. This was a practice among past presidents and chairmen as well.

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“King Abdullah knew that there would be a general election in 2013. It seemed as if he [King Abdullah] did not want the negative impact of the Arab spring to affect Malaysia; especially as he had a positive view of the country as an example of a country that practises the real meaning of Islam,” Najib said.

“This was to ensure political stability and aligned with what King Abdullah wanted.”

Najib said that he and recipient bank AmBank received several letters about the donations, and these were in line with the donations.

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Najib said he returned about 2.6 billion ringgit (US$620 million) to one of the senders, Tanore Finance Group, and a balance of 162 million ringgit was transferred into one of his newly opened accounts in August 2013.

“Up until July 2013, I was told that there was a sum of money left in the 694 account. The amount was more than I had planned to use in the nearest time.

“I was uncomfortable to have that much of funds in my account as I was worried that if the information was leaked, it would spin out of context, politically,” he said.

The court earlier heard from Najib that Low had told him in mid-2010 that King Abdullah wanted to support to Najib’s leadership in the form of personal donations, and arranged meetings with the monarch.

“From 2011 until 2014, I received a huge amount of money that I believed was a donation from King Abdullah as a sign of his support. Jho Low was the connection in the matter and I believed he arranged the donations for the Saudi royal family,” he said.

Low told him that the king admired Malaysia’s ability to practise moderation in Islam and equality between Muslims and non-Muslims.

The meetings between the former prime minister and King Abdullah took place during a series of visits to Riyadh and Jeddah.

“According to Jho Low, King Abdullah wanted to confer me with the highest civilian honour in Saudi Arabia, which was the King Abdulaziz Order of Merit (1st Class).” Najib said he received the award in January 2010.

The award had been previously conferred on former US president Barack Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

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Najib is facing seven charges – three for criminal breach of trust, one for abuse of power and three for money laundering involving SRC International funds totalling 42 million ringgit (US$10.1 million)

The hearing continues before Justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali on December 9.

Read the original article at The Star Online .