PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Najib Razak has refused to be associated with the setting up of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), telling the Hight Court that the sovereign wealth fund was "not his baby".
"I am not responsible for the establishment of 1MDB.
"Please don't refer to 1MDB as 'my baby'. It came from the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA)," he told the High Court here on Thursday (Jan 16).
Najib said this during a cross-examination conducted by Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohamad Mustaffa P. Kunyalam when the latter made the remark at the 1MDB defence trial here in Putrajaya.
In apparent dissatisfaction, Najib repeatedly told the prosecutor not to make such a reference.
DPP Mohamad Mustaffa: But 1Malaysia is your brand.
Najib: Yes, but the genesis of 1MDB is not that. You're making certain innuendos with that statement. I cannot accept that.
DPP Mohamad Mustaffa: I leave it to submissions.
On Oct 30, Najib was ordered by the High Court to enter his defence on four counts of using his position to obtain RM2.28bil gratification from 1MDB's funds and 21 counts of money laundering involving the same amount.
The hearing continues before Justice Collin Lawrence Sequerah Friday (Jan 17).
