Najib admits asking UAE crown prince to help clear moviemaker stepson Riza Aziz of 1MDB money claims

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 15 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak today admitted in the High Court that he did ask the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) then crown prince to help make paperwork arrangements that would clear Najib’s filmmaker stepson Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz of allegations involving 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) money.

After being shown the transcripts of two audio recordings of alleged phone conversations between Najib and the then crown prince Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al-Nahyan in 2016, Najib agreed that he did make a “personal request” in the second phone conversation regarding Riza Aziz.

In this audio clip’s transcript, Najib was said to have referred to the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) July 2016 filing of a forfeiture suit on 1MDB as having happened “yesterday”. Today, he confirmed he was aware of the DoJ suit at the time it was filed.

The prosecution asked Najib to confirm he had requested the crown prince to arrange for a loan agreement to be signed with Riza Aziz with a repayment schedule to show that the money that the latter had received to make movies was “legitimate”.

Najib agreed to this, saying that this was because Riza Aziz “was promised contributions from Aabar and the crown prince himself, that’s why I asked him to solve it.”

While saying that he did not really recall if he had said the loan agreement was intended to show money received by Riza Aziz was a “legitimate financing packaging” and not “money laundering”, Najib said this would be what he had said if it was based on the transcript.

Najib confirmed that the transcript had shown him referring to Riza Aziz being under a bit of pressure in the US then.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib then continued to read from the transcript, where Najib was said to have expressed worry that Riza Aziz would be made a scapegoat and asking for the agreement to be signed quickly.

Najib then said this was because Riza Aziz wanted to pay the money back as soon as possible.

Akram then continued reading from the transcript, where Najib had said Riza Aziz was not aware where the money came from when he received it as the banks had cleared the source of the money, and with Najib saying that he did not want his stepson to be a victim when he was unaware and genuinely believed the money was from Aabar and under Sheikh Mansour’s instructions.

Naijb’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, who was sitting in the public gallery, was seen nodding her head along to this part of the transcript.

Akram then suggested Najib knew where the money that Riza Aziz received came from, with Rosmah seen shaking her head at this.

Najib then said: “No, when Riza received the money, he was told it’s from Aabar and from Sheikh Mansour. Then when there was expose, then only we got to know there was a possibility it was not from Aabar. That’s why I asked for the agreement to make sure everything was in order, that’s all lah.”

Akram then suggested this meant Najib himself knew where the money came from, but the former prime minister stressed: “No, I don’t know where the money came from!”

Akram also referred to another part of the transcript, where Najib had told the crown prince that Riza Aziz was innocent and only wanted to make movies and that the attempts to connect his stepson to 1MDB money came as a shock to the latter.

Based on these excerpts in the transcript, Akram suggested that Najib actually knew that the money Riza Aziz received came from 1MDB. But Najib disagreed.

Although Najib said he could not verify if these audio recordings were fully authentic, he also confirmed to Akram that the “Your Highness” who he is alleged to have addressed in the first phone conversation was referring to the then crown prince of UAE.

He also said there were elements in the first transcript that looked familiar to him, but he could not confirm the whole transcript as he did not recall what he had said exactly in several past conversations with the then crown prince.

Najib also said he could not verify if the second transcript was of his phone conversation with the then crown prince, but later said the the two voices in the audio recording were “most likely” his voice and the crown prince’s voice. This was the recording where Riza Aziz’s name was mentioned.

Previously in his written witness statement in the 1MDB trial, Najib had questioned whether nine audio recordings — including today’s two audio clips — were authentic, but had at the same time said these nine clips are “exculpatory” or would clear him of wrongdoing in the 1MDB case.

Najib’s 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes tomorrow morning.