1MDB: We were just having tea, not plotting to steal billions, Najib tells court

KUALA LUMPUR: It was an informal afternoon tea onboard a yacht, not a meeting to plot siphoning billions from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), the High Court heard.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak, on the stand, shared details of his private family vacation in Southern France in 2009, where he and his family were invited for high tea aboard the RM Elegance by Saudi’s Prince Turki.

The former prime minister said he was already on holiday in the South of France with his family when the invitation came through his special officer via Low Taek Jho, known for his connections with Middle Eastern royalty.

Najib said his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, children Nor Ashman Razak, Nooryana Najwa, and stepson Riza Aziz were with him on the vacation.

“Apart from my family, my friend Tan Sri Bustari Yusuf and his children also joined us.

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“You can immediately see from the membership of my group, it was meant to be a private holiday to begin with,” he said in his witness statement on Tuesday (Dec 3).

As Najib and his family boarded the yacht, they were greeted by Prince Turki and PetroSaudi executive Tarek Obaid.

“The meeting I had with Prince Turki, Tarek Obaid, and Low during the afternoon tea was entirely informal and was nothing like what has been suggested.

“It was, in fact, the first time I had met both Prince Turki and Tarek Obaid. The idea that we could have been discussing some sort of sinister plan is not only ridiculous but entirely unfounded,” Najib said.

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Had there been a hidden agenda or nefarious intent, Najib said he would not have allowed photographs to be taken showing them together.

“The suggestion that we were plotting anything underhanded while my family and friends were present is absurd and rather unnatural,” he added.

Najib said it was both misleading and unfair for individuals who were not part of the meeting to speculate and draw adverse inferences as an attempt to serve the prosecution’s narrative against him.

Najib is facing four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28bil gratification from 1MDB’s funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.

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The charges were framed under Section 23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and are punishable under Section 24(1) of the same Act.

If convicted at the end of the defence case, Najib faces imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of five times the amount of gratification or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

The hearing continues tomorrow before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah.