According to Bernama, Adel had informed Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah about the matter after the former had met his counterpart in Wisma Putra, Putrajaya, here today.

“He (Adel) said that the (RM2.6 billion donation) had nothing to do with the Saudi Arabian government,” the national news agency reported Saifuddin as saying.

Saifuddin, Bernama reported, also said when he met Adel at the United Nations General Assembly last month, the latter said that Saudi Arabia will cooperate in the probe into 1MDB and that it had nothing to do with the RM2.6 billion donation.

“He reiterated today that the donation had nothing to do with Saudi Arabia,” he was quoted as saying.

Adel is on a three-day visit to Malaysia which ends today.

Adel had in 2016 confirmed that he donated billions of ringgit to Najib.

“We are aware of the donation, and it is a genuine donation with nothing expected in return,” Adel was quoted as saying at a summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul.

Najib had always maintained the money banked into his account was from a donation and did not come from 1MDB.

Last month, authorities arrested Najib, who is also the former finance minister, in connection with the alleged deposit of RM2.6 billion into his personal account.

In 2015, The Wall Street Journal, citing the Malaysian authorities’ investigation papers, reported that the RM2.6 billion, linked by some to state-owned 1MDB, was funnelled into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

Najib, in response, said the money came from a member of the Saudi royal family to help Umno in its 2013 general election campaign.

He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by the then attorney-general Apandi Ali.