NAJIB Razak is getting panned again over his explanation on the US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) he allegedly received from the Middle East in 2013.

In his latest Facebook post on the RM2.6 billion last night, he described the money as “contingency funds” he had asked for from the Saudi Arabian king.

He said Prince Abdulaziz Al-Saud, who represented the king, then wrote to him in March 2013, informing him that the funds would be sent to him in stages, either from the king’s bank account or other sources, including the company Tanore Finance Corporation.

Najib also posted the letter from the prince titled, Important Recognition to Significant Contribution to the Islamic World, and bank documents showing that he had returned a large chunk of the money later in 2013 after Barisan Nasional retained the government in the 13th general election.

“He changed the story again,” Facebook user Basil Pian commented on Najib’s post.

“From not receiving the money to the money being party funds, and then an Arab donation returned. Now this. You were the one who had asked for the donation.

“There’s a huge difference between the Arabs giving you money without your request, and you begging for the funds. The Arab letter doesn’t say you asked for the money. This can be made into a drama.”

Ismail Mohamad joked that it had taken Najib a long time to prepare the “script”.

Mas Asmar Ashraf and Fazril Sarudin both posted that it was already too late for Najib to try and come clean about the billions he had received in his personal bank account.

Fazril said Najib was now fumbling to explain the money after refusing to show proof when the issue was first brought to light.

“Talking about this now is useless. The ship has sailed. If you had spoken up when everyone was making a fuss over it, you might still be in Putrajaya,” said Facebook user Asmar Ashraf.

Another Facebook user, Aidil Khan, questioned why Najib had fired his former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin when the latter questioned him about the funds.

Muhyiddin, who is now Pakatan Harapan deputy president and home minister, was sacked from Najib’s cabinet in 2015 for questioning the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal and the billions in the latter’s personal bank accounts.

Meanwhile, Chong Soon Peng said Najib had not told Malaysians anything new about the money in his posting, saying the documents shared were previously disclosed by whistleblower site Sarawak Report and the Wall Street Journal.

“Nothing new. Are you trying to prove their allegation was real? What you should do is reveal who that Prince Saud is. Prove the owner of Tanore Finance is Prince Saud and not Eric Tan.”

Tan was an associate of Low Taek Jho, the Malaysian businessman better known as Jho Low, who was close to Najib and his family.

While Jho Low is accused of masterminding the siphoning of billions of ringgit from 1MDB, Tan was reportedly the stated beneficial owner of several bank accounts into which misappropriated 1MDB funds were transferred.

It was also reported that Tan represented Jho Low at the British Virgin Islands-registered companies Affinity International Equity Partners and Tanore.

“I hope (Najib) can cooperate with New Malaysia to catch the thieves who have stolen the people’s money. Thank you,” Chong said, sarcastically.

Far more social media users also doubted the “facts” Najib was presenting.

“Hahahaha… These ‘facts’ used to be fake news. Now, (they have) become (the) truth? Wake up people,” Andy Lam said.

Tam Kien Meng said the documents posted could have been edited while Samsul Ghazali said that Najib must think all Malaysians were stupid and that he could continue to fool them.

Many others felt Najib should just save his explanations for the court instead of posting them on Facebook.

“Enough, Najib. You just show the proof in court. Too late to whine now,” Rayner Awang wrote.

“When you were in power, it would have been easy to furnish proof. Now, it is too late. Nobody is going to believe your evidence now and they will call you a liar. Just let the courts decide what kind of person you are.”

Surendran Sreetharan told Najib that if he wanted a trial by social media, he would be convicted and incarcerated for a long time. 

“So, please adduce all this evidence in court at your trial and prove your innocence. Stop all this drama here,” he said.

There were also those who believed Najib, like Umm Nurardini Batrisyia.

“There’s proof now but you still refuse to believe. What do you all believe? If Najib is innocent, I pray God will protect him from slander.

“If it is true that he is guilty, I pray God will also show the truth. For those who condemn him, I hope Najib is able to forgive all who have sinned against him,” she said.

Earlier this week, Najib, who was also former finance minister, said he would reveal the source of the RM2.6 billion donation from the late Saudi king to “help” Umno defend itself should an Arab Spring-style uprising occur in Malaysia.

Najib was previously cleared of any wrongdoing with regard to the money and the 1MDB scandal when he was prime minister.

Now with PH in power, he is facing multiple charges for criminal breach of trust, power abuse and money laundering in relation to the scandal involving 1MDB, his brainchild. – September 14, 2018.