Ex-PM Najib Razak, while maintaining that former Bank Negara governor Zeti Aziz knew of the RM2.6 billion transferred into his private banking account, revealed some new details on the transaction.
He told Malaysiakini that Zeti was informed of the incoming foreign donation deposits.
This is in stark contradiction to what he had said about the RM2.6b at the beginning of the scandal and adds to the many inconsistencies in his statements in this matter.
Najib has never said before that he knew the donation funds were coming into his account and that he had informed the Bank Negara governor of the same.
He also told Malaysiakini that when the Bank Negara did not come back to him on the funds donated in his account, he thought everything was all right.
In an interview with Reuters, Najib had said he did not know if hundreds of millions of dollars that moved through his personal account was from 1MDB.
He also said he was not aware of money from the fund was eventually laundered to acquire assets globally, including yachts, paintings, gems and prime real estate.
But he has consistently maintained the money comes from a Saudi Arabian prince, though he and the prince have so far been unable to show any documents as proof of the source of funds.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s account originated from 1MDB.
Najib also maintained that he returned the bulk of the money to the same source (Saudi prince) a few months later.
The ex-PM never said why he returned the bulk of the money and kept only a portion in his account.
“However, I maintain she (Zeti) was informed of the incoming foreign donation deposits into my accounts and that she was aware of the deposits at that time.
“It is up to her if she wants to say that as Bank Negara governor at that time, she was not aware of the deposit from overseas that went into my bank account in the year 2013, which I later returned most of it to the same source a few months later,” the former premier said according to Malaysiakini.