Dr M: RM2.6 billion came from 1MDB

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad tonight confirmed that the RM2.6 billion had come from 1MDB, refuting claims made by his predecessor that the money had been a donation from the Saudi royal family.

Mahathir said the issue had been discussed in a meeting with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel Ahmed Al-Jubeir Friday after he paid a courtesy call on him.

Adel had claimed that the RM2.6 billion had nothing to do with the Saudi government, which was contrary to what he had said two years ago that the Saudis had donated billions of ringgit to Najib.

On whether he believed what Adel said then or what he was saying now, Mahathir said that was immaterial.

“What is important is documentary proof, whether the money came from 1MDB or from Saudi Arabia. You can’t transfer huge sums of money without leaving a record.

“If they say it is from Saudi Arabia, show the records. If it is not from Saudi Arabia, we have to find out where it came from.

“As far as we know, it comes from 1MDB,” he said at a press conference at PPBM headquarters here today, after chairing the party’s supreme council meeting tonight.

Adel had, in a meeting with Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, said the RM2.6 billion donation had nothing to do with the Saudi Arabian government.

Najib, in a Facebook post this evening, said that based on bank documents that he had made public earlier, the funds were channelled directly from the kingdom’s finance ministry and from the royal family.

He also stated that Adel himself had, twice, said that Saudi Arabia had donated the money to him.

To a question on whether he believed Adel or Najib, Mahathir said it was like a disease.

“It is a kind of disease. It has infected (Donald) Trump, for instance. One day he says he wants to punish Saudi Arabia, now he is saying they have done nothing wrong, and they are sincere.

“We find it is sometimes difficult to hold foreign leaders to their word,” he said.

On whether Adel was saying something different now, just to please the current government, Mahathir said “maybe. But I do not know what he is thinking”.

“I did not ask him why (he denied the money had anything to do with the Saudi Arabian government). He just said it is not true. That’s all,” he said.

To a question on Najib, in a Al Jazeera interview, urging the authorities, to also investigate international figures linked to 1MDB, and not just controversial businessman Low Taek Jho, Mahathir said: “Okay, ask him to make a report, then we will go after them.”

Najib, in the interview, had claimed there were other international figures who were probably involved and must be probed.

“We want to know where the money flowed to. And who really benefited from the whole 1MDB issue. I would like to know too,” he said.

To a question on whether the Malaysian authorities were looking for the infamous 22-carat pink diamond pendant linked to Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, Mahathir said “of course we are looking for lost money and jewellery and handbags. We are looking for them”.

Najib had, in the same interview, claimed that the diamond was a gift from Prince Sheikh Mansour, the brother of Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed of the UAE.

Najib said the diamond — which was purportedly bought with money from 1MDB — was not a gift from Jho Low.

On whether Malaysia will go after the Saudi Arabian or Abu Dhabi royal families, should they be involved in the scandal, Mahathir had this to say:

“Well we find it difficult to impose laws on people in other countries. But if they have committed a crime in Malaysia, affecting Malaysians or Malaysian money, they come here we will arrest them.

“As for whether it will affect diplomatic relations, that is another matter we have to resolve. But a crime is a crime,” he added.

Najib had always maintained the money banked into his account was from a donation and did not come from 1MDB.

Last month, authorities arrested Najib, who is also the former finance minister, in connection with the alleged deposit of RM2.6 billion into his personal account.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal, citing the Malaysian authorities’ investigation papers, reported that the RM2.6 billion, linked by some to state-owned 1MDB, was funnelled into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

Najib, in response, said the money came from a member of the Saudi royal family to help Umno in its 2013 general election campaign. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the then attorney-general Apandi Ali.