The Malaysian Insight

THE prosecution at the SRC International trial has accused Najib Razak of lying about buying gifts amounting to RM3.3 million for the wife of a former Qatari prime minister, the Kuala Lumpur High Court heard today.

The purchases were made on Najib’s credit cards at jeweller De Grisogono in Italy on August 8, 2014. 

When cross-examined by ad hoc deputy public prosecutor V. Sithambaram, the former prime minister referred to a letter of appreciation from Noor Abdulaziz Abdulla Turki Al-Subaie, the wife of Shaikh Hamad Jassim Jabr Al Thani, who was then Qatar’s prime minister.

The letter, dated August 15, 2014, was addressed to Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor. The gift, a set of ten items including a watch, were purchased for €763,500 (then RM3.28 million), the court heard. 

Sithambaram: This gift was bought at a shop?

Najib: I believe so. I paid for it with my credit card but I asked my wife to buy it. 

Sithambaram: Datuk Seri, it is your evidence that you had coincidentally met with Shaikh Hamad and his wife at Sardinia? 

Najib: I knew he was going to be there, there was a conversation prior to arriving. We had a sense he was there because we always wanted to spend some time together. 

Sithambaram: Your sense is taking you to very far places. Was this gift handed personally by you or your wife, to Shaikh Hamad’s wife at Sardinia?

Najib: Maybe by one of the protocol officers. 

Sithambaram said both Najib and Shaikh Hamad were holidaying in Sardinia. The prosecutor also told the court that some transactions for the purchases were declined because they exceeded the credit card limit. 

The letter of appreciation was then reproduced by Sithambaram.

Sithambaram: You claim that this is the letter of acknowledgement?

Najib: Yes.

Sithambaram: Are you calling anyone to confirm this gift was indeed given to Shaikh Ahmad’s wife, to the best of your knowledge?

Najib: We are looking into it.

Sithambaram: I am putting it to you that there was no gift of this sum to the wife of the prime minister of Qatar. You agree or disagree?

Najib: I disagree.

Sithambaram: I am putting it to you that this letter was put together after the event to explain the expense of RM3.2 million? You agree or disagree?

Najib: I disagree. 

In his witness statement in December, Najib said the gift was a gesture of thanks in response to gifts from the Qatari prime minister and his wife during a previous official visit to Malaysia, and to appreciate the close ties between the two countries.

Najib today also confirmed that he purchased a birthday gift for his wife, Rosmah Mansor, in the form of a watch that cost US$130,600 (then RM466,300).

The watch was bought at a Chanel store di Honolulu, Hawaii on December 12, 2014. He maintained that this was his only personal purchase on his credit card. 

He said other charges, including hotel stays in Rome, Bali and Bangkok, were not significant. 

Najib’s charges in the SRC International trial are linked to RM4 billion in loans issued to the entity in 2011 and 2012, for which he is accused of receiving RM42 million in his accounts in 2014 and 2015.

The 66-year-old has been slapped with three counts of criminal breach of trust, three counts of money laundering and one count of abuse of power. He faces up to 20 years’ jail if convicted. – January 9, 2020.