The former prime minister told the High Court he became aware of the matter while still in office, after the DoJ announced it was bringing civil forfeiture actions in 2016.
He said MACC had yet to record his statement on 1MDB at the time.
“It was an unfair action. They should have referred to me and gotten my side of the story,” said Najib.
He also said he was previously assured by Abu Kassim that he (Najib) was “not involved”.
“I did not ask him or (ex-deputy public prosecutor) Dzulkifli (Ahmad) for any favours as I shouldn’t interfere in investigations,” he said.
‘Bakke should have met with me’
Najib also said ex-1MDB chairman Bakke Salleh should not have texted him if he thought the state of affairs at 1MDB was serious.
“He should have briefed me (in person) if he was concerned about 1MDB,” he added.
Bakke, who resigned in 2009, previously told the court that he had informed Najib via SMS that 1MDB’s management was going against instructions from the company’s board of directors. Bakke said Najib never replied to the message.
Despite leaving 1MDB, Najib said Bakke was later appointed as Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd group president and CEO.
“I recommended him (for the title of) ‘Tan Sri’,” he said, adding that Bakke never thanked him for it.
Najib then lamented that during his tenure, he was blamed for a decision made by the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
He said then attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail was adamant about charging Dr Ling Liong Sik over the Port Klang Free Zone project debacle.
“Tun (Ling) was not on speaking terms with me (after that),” he said.
Ling was acquitted of cheating the federal government in 2013.
Najib filed a suit against Ling in 2015 over the former transport minister’s claim that the RM2.6 billion “donation” was “the people’s money” which Najib had “taken”. The suit was withdrawn in 2018.
Najib is standing trial on 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.
The hearing before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah continues.