Kassim, who now heads the National Centre for Governance, Integrity and Anti-Corruption (GIACC), stated that as far as he could remember, MACC had never confirmed with certainty that the RM2.6 billion was a donation.

“Maybe at that particular time, in the preliminary investigation, it could have been the case.

“But when the investigation progressed, especially after I went to the US and met the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Justice (DoJ), we discovered the money was not a donation,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on anti-corruption here today.

The MACC had on Aug 3, 2015 also said the probe found that the RM2.6 billion did not originate from 1MDB and that the case had been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Two days later, the MACC again issued another statement to clarify that the probe into the RM2.6 billion and SRC International Sdn Bhd was still ongoing.

When asked to comment on the 2015 statement, Kassim said the statement was issued based on information at the time.

“At that particular time, the letter surfaced that there was a donation, but as the probe progressed, when we engaged with the FBI and DoJ, we discovered the truth,” he said.

On whether he was now saying that the RM2.6 billion was not a donation, Kassim said “the court case will reveal the truth”.

Kassim was responding to recent reports that Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Ahmed Al-Jubeir had affirmed that the Saudi government had nothing to do with the donation.

However, in 2016, while attending the 13th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, Adel was reported as saying the donation to Najib came from Saudi Arabia.

“We are aware of the donation and it is really a donation expecting nothing in return. We are also aware that the attorney-general of Malaysia has conducted a thorough investigation into the matter and found no misconduct.”