Zeti Reveals How Najib Tried To Get Her To Clear His Name For The RM2.6 Billion Deposit
The former Bank Negara governor said she knew nothing about the large sum of cash found in Najib's bank account in 2013.
By Tamara Jayne — 04 Jul 2018, 04:47 PM
In a statement on Tuesday, 3 July, former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz denied being aware of the RM2.6 billion deposited into ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's bank account before 2013 elections
In 2015, Najib was accused of channelling over RM2.6 billion from 1Malaysia Development Berhad funds into his personal bank account. When questioned, the former prime minister said that it was a "donation" given to him by a Saudi royal and that RM2.5 billion was returned to the donor after GE13.
Recently on Monday, 2 July, Najib told MalaysiaKini that former central bank governor Zeti knew about the cash yet "did nothing".
"If Bank Negara is in the know of these funds and they had an inkling or some knowledge that there could be some doubts about the source of the funds, I expected them to tell me."
"But nothing of that sort happened. So I assumed all along that it was fine," he said.
However, Zeti refuted the former premier's claims towards her. Instead, she said that on 3 July, 2015, she was called in to see Najib at his office in Putrajaya.
"He made a request for me to issue a statement that he had done nothing wrong in his account," she said yesterday, in reference to the large sum that was sitting in his bank account.
During their conversation in 2015, Zeti claims she told Najib that she could not issue such a statement as she had no prior knowledge of the transactions that were made.
Zeti then said that she later received a call from another Cabinet Minister requesting for the same thing - to issue the statement. She retorted with the same answer.
In her statement yesterday, Zeti added that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) relies on information provided by reporting financial institutions
"Unless the relevant banking institution reports to BNM of irregularities in an account or if BNM received a tip off that gives a reason to believe that an offence has occurred, the Central Bank is not able to initiate investigation into the account," she said.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said he met Zeti at a Hari Raya function yesterday, where she told him that the former prime minister's allegations about her were false
"Zeti told me that she was upset and that the claims made by Najib were completely false, baseless and untrue."
Lim added that between Zeti and Najib's statements, he would believe Zeti.
"We should always let due process take its course. If you want to compare, between Najib and Zeti, who would you believe?" he asked.
"Who has and who has not amassed Hermes bags? Who has and who has not jewellery worth RM200 million? Who has and who has not RM116 million in cash?"
"Let the Malaysian people decide," Lim concluded, reported MalaysiaKini.
Zeti resigned as bank governor in 2016 and became a member of the Council of Elders after GE14. Last week, she was appointed as chairman of Permodalan Nasional Bhd: