Najib had said he would stick to his statement given in the trial that he had no knowledge that the money had come from the then government-linked company.
The contradiction was pointed out by ad-hoc prosecutor V Sithambaram, who, in cross-examining Najib, jogged the accused’s memory about an affidavit affirmed in response to a defamation suit he had filed against former transport minister Dr Ling Liong Sik in October 2015.
Najib filed the suit against Ling for stating that the then prime minister was unfit to lead Malaysia after receiving some RM2.6 billion, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Sithambaram then read a paragraph from Najib’s affidavit that stated: “I (Najib) have admitted that the RM42 million which originated from SRC entered into my accounts without knowing that it was channelled via two intermediaries.”
Sithambaram: Did you make the statement?
Najib: Yes
Sithambaram: Did you sign the document (affidavit)?
Najib: Yes.
Sithambaram: Did it represent the truth or you have any qualification?
Najib: Yes, the RM42 million entered into my accounts but without my knowledge that the money came from SRC through Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd and Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd.
Sithambaram: I put it to you that your evidence in this trial is against what you have affirmed in the affidavit.
Najib: That is not true.
Najib said his accounts were managed by his former private secretary, the late Azlin Alias, former SRC CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and fugitive financier Low Taek Jho or better known as Jho Low.
“I spent the money for legitimate reasons, although I do not know the sources of the funds,” he said.
He disagreed with Sithambaram that he had never asked the three men about the source of the funds because he knew where the money had come from.
“They kept it a secret,” Najib added.
Najib also disagreed with Sithambaram that he could issue cheques because the role of the three men was to continue replenishing the money in his accounts.
Najib is accused of abusing his power as prime minister by giving government guarantees on SRC International’s RM4 billion loan from Retirement Fund Inc.
He is also charged with three counts of money laundering and three counts of criminal breach of trust in the transfer of RM42 million to his accounts from the former 1MDB unit.
Hearing before judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali continues.