Attorney general says huge sum in Najib Razak’s personal bank account was donation from Saudi royal family and not linked to troubled state fund 1MDB

Malaysia’s attorney general said on Tuesday that $681m transferred into prime minister Najib Razak’s personal bank account was a gift from the royal family in Saudi Arabia, and there were no criminal offences or corruption involved.



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The involvement of the Saudi royal family is an unexpected twist in a scandal over the mysterious funds transfer and the troubles of indebted state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), whose advisory board Najib chairs.

“I am satisfied with the findings that the funds were not a form of graft or bribery,” attorney general Mohamed Apandi Ali told a hastily called news conference, where a statement was issued that said Najib had returned $620m to the Saudi royal family because it had not been utilised.

“There was no reason given as to why the donation was made to PM Najib – that is between him and the Saudi family,” Apandi said.

He said no criminal offence was committed by Najib in relation to three investigations submitted by Malaysia’s anti-graft agency and that no further action would be taken.

The Malaysian anti-corruption commission (MACC) had earlier said the funds were a political donation from an unidentified Middle Eastern benefactor.

The attorney general said in a statement he would return to the MACC papers pertaining to the three separate investigations with instructions to close all three cases.

Najib, who has weathered months of calls from opposition leaders and establishment figures to resign, has denied any wrongdoing and says he did not take any money for personal gain.

In a statement sent to the Guardian, Najib said he welcomed the attorney general’s comments that “confirmed what I have maintained all along: that no crime was committed.”

“This issue has been an unnecessary distraction for the country. Now that the matter has been comprehensively put to rest, it is time for us to unite and move on,” he added.

Malaysian opposition parliamentarian Tony Pua told the Guardian the “basis to absolve the prime minister of any wrongdoing is utterly without merit because the ‘personal affair’ does not preclude corrupt motives or transactions”.

He added: “The attorney general has provided no new or convincing information or arguments on whether the massive funds were bona fide, which leads to the question whether the newly appointed attorney general is merely covering up for the prime minister.”

In July last year, Najib sacked the country’s previous attorney general, who had led the investigation into the scandal, for “health reasons” in a government reshuffle that also saw the dismissal of several officials critical of the premier.

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The scandal has shaken investors in south-east Asia’s third-biggest economy and rocked public confidence in the coalition led by Najib’s United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party, which has held power since independence in 1957.



However, Najib still enjoys the backing of most of UMNO’s powerful division chiefs. Even his fiercest internal critics, such as influential former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, accept that he cannot be unseated.

Reuters contributed to this report