Nasharudin Amir told the former prime minister’s 1MDB trial that a further probe was necessary despite a 2015 meeting with the alleged donor, “Prince Saud Abdulaziz Al-Saud”, at a Saudi Arabian palace.

Nasharudin said he and fellow colleagues Fikri Ab Rahim and Hafaz Nazar, their superior, Azam Baki (the current MACC chief), and then deputy public prosecutor Dzulkifli Ahmad were in the Middle Eastern country to investigate four purported “donation letters”.

The letters, dated between Feb 1, 2011 and June 1, 2014, were said to have been signed and sent by “Saud” to Najib.

According to Nasharudin, the team met “Saud”, his legal representative, Mohamad Abdullah Al Koman, and fugitive Tan Kim Loong at the palace, and took their statements.

Nasharudin told the court he was not satisfied with the statements recorded from Abdullah and Tan as they had failed to supply banking documentation to support their assertions.

However, he did not say whether the government acted on his request.

Witness statements ‘copied and pasted’

Under cross-examination by deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib, Nasharudin admitted that he and Hafaz had taken only about 25 minutes to record statements from Abdullah and Tan.

Akram: Do you agree that their statements were pre-prepared and you only needed to “copy and paste” (their contents)?

Nasharudin: Yes.

Akram: So, this trip to Saudi Arabia was only to collect draft statements, enjoy a good meal and then come back home?

Nasharudin: Yes

The witness also told the court that the team’s Saudi host had arranged for them to perform the umrah (pilgrimage).

The hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah on Feb 24.

Najib is standing trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited in his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.