Najib glad he was not invited to Jho Low's lavish parties

SRC TRIAL | Former premier Najib Abdul Razak told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that Jho Low had benefited from 1MDB and related entities.

He said the trial so far established that the fugitive businessperson netted RM500 million from flipping 1MDB bonds with the help of bankers.

"As you know, he was living an opulent and lavish lifestyle. Those lavish parties. I was never invited and (I'm) glad I was not invited," he said when cross-examined by lead defence counsel Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Shafee had asked Najib why a "scammer" would deposit money into the former premier's bank account.

Najib's lawyers have been building a case premised on Jho Low duping their client into using funds sourced from the Retirement Fund Incorporated (Kwap).

When Shafee asked Najib if the latter had a share in the assets procured by Jho Low, the former premier replied in the negative.

Najib then continued to speculate that Jho Low arranged for "donations" to be deposited in his accounts to maintain their relationship.

"Having an immense amount of money, he must have thought that if he did not continue to ensure donations flowed into my account, then it would not affect his relationship with me.

"If he did not keep up with (the) donations, I would be suspicious with what he was doing and begin to question.

"That would mean whatever he did would be discovered or at least I would no longer have faith in him (at a time when) he benefited from his relationship with me," he added.

Najib said the RM42 million he was accused of pocketing was "minuscule" compared to the sum reaped by Jho Low.

Following this, Shafee asked Najib when the latter realised he was being "baited" by Jho Low and the accused said this happened only after investigations began.

"I began to have my doubts when I heard evidence (made to the) MACC and later on when it became an international issue.

"Then I realised that he did a lot of things I did not know about," he added.

Based on Najib's reply, this would put the time frame around 2015. In July that year, Najib sacked Abdul Gani Patail as attorney-general.

So far, the trial has uncovered that Jho Low enjoyed great access to Najib.

For instance, Jho Low ushered former AmBank Group managing director Cheah Tek Kuang into Najib's home in January 2011 to have the then-premier sign documents to set up bank accounts.

Najib's former aide Amhari Effendi Nazaruddin also testified that Jho Low often spoke to Najib's wife, Rosmah Mansor, on the phone.