Najib: I Was Found Guilty Because I Donated RM400,000 To Help Orphans
The former prime minister said 99% of the money was spent on charitable or political causes.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 04 Aug 2020, 06:23 PM
After being sentenced to 12 years' jail for corruption, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak now claims that a part of the money linked to SRC International was donated to an orphanage
Najib made the revelation in a Facebook live video last night, 3 August, which lasted seven minutes.
In it, Najib could be seen sitting in front of a camera with his hands clasped together. He began the livestream by telling the audience that he is fine as usual.
He said the purpose of the video is to clear some questions on the High Court's decision from his perspective.
According to him, RM400,000 linked to SRC International was donated to Rumah Penyayang Tun Abdul Razak located in his constituency in Pekan, Pahang
He said the money was paid to the orphanage for the children's daily expenses and schooling costs.
"I was fined RM2 million because I donated RM400,000 to orphans to cover the cost of their living and education," the Pekan Member of Parliament (MP) lamented.
I was punished because I took care of orphans and their schooling needs.
"I was also fined RM3.2 million because I gave a RM650,000 contribution to UMNO Johor, Penang, and Kedah for them to run their welfare programmes."
"There are many more examples of such expenses, where they were not used on me or to enhance personal lifestyle. Instead, they were used to uplift the rakyat and the party," he claimed.
Prior to this, he said that 99% of the funds from SRC International was used on either political or charitable causes
Najib said the judge of the trial had made several mistakes when making his judgement on the case, which ultimately sentenced him to 12 years' jail.
According to Najib, the judge said there is no need to prove criminal intent in the case.
"Despite that, I was ordered to pay a RM210 million fine on the RM42 million that I received, where 99% was spent on corporate social responsibility (CSR)," he said.
He stressed that the court had confirmed most of the money was not for personal use, but he was fined five times the money he allegedly stole.
"(The fine was like) RM5 for every RM1 spent. The truth is it was not for personal use," the 67-year-old reiterated.
