Why didn’t PMO reveal Saudi prince’s letter?

Putrajaya: ABC report confirms Najib’s statement on funds

Negarawan: The sender of the money would have to obtain the bank account of the receiver. If PM Najib Razak knew that this was an official inter-government aid, why did Najib use his personal bank account?

Who at the helm of the government would receive billions of inter-government aid into his private account? Why was the aid not known by anyone else in the government and Umno?

This brings to question the legitimacy of the money, and if the letter had been drafted as a decoy. The manner the letter was written is very suspicious, as it attempts to exonerate Najib from any wrongdoing.

Foreign investigations have revealed that Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners Limited belongs to tycoon Jho Low, from which the money came from.

Existential Turd: First of all, is the letter a fake? Najib’s government and Umno are always quick to claim evidence of their criminality as fabricated in an attempt to tarnish their good name and to bring down the government.

Now they are staking their reputation on a piece of paper exposed by ABC. Why didn’t they reveal the letter themselves all these time?

Secondly, if Australia’s ABC bothers to dig deeper, who is to say the “donation” that purportedly came from a Saudi Arabia prince was not part of a money laundering scam?

HaveAGreatDay: Indeed, why is Putrajaya so quick off the mark in this instance? Any thinking rakyat will query on its silence since the 1MDB scandal broke?

If indeed such a generous benefactor of our PM existed, shouldn’t he have trumpeted this fact to clear his name at the earliest instance.

1) he does not expect any personal benefit as a result of his gift (donation);

2) the gift (donation) should not be regarded as an act of corruption (I guess he meant it to apply both to himself as the giver as well as the recipient)

The prince’s letter confirms the donation, so now will this subject of donation be accepted and closed?

Daniel: If this letter is genuine, there was no mention of not revealing the giver. So when the donation was exposed, it should have been revealed right from the start to avoid any misunderstanding.

Was the donor afraid, from the beginning, that this gift could be construed as corruption and hence the letter to pre-empt? Wouldn’t it be better to have been open right from the start?

Anonymous_1431347091: Indeed, this letter, if true, should have been released the moment there was a whiff of financial impropriety. Similarly, all transactions should have been made public as they are of public importance.

And the real donor should have put his hand up and acknowledged his generosity. The return of the larger part of the donation does not make any sense in the context of this letter. Is the mission accomplished? If anything, Najib has given Islam a bad name.

The letter reads like something that has been written in hindsight, to respond to all the questions that have been asked. Somehow, it looks like ABC were conveniently led to the letter.

Vijay47: When it comes tales of Arabian knights and emirs, we can be assured of spell-binding stories of wonder and splendour. Abracadabra, we now have the latest invention from Ali Baba’s land, a Gift Testimonial.

Never mind little vexatious details like the good prince confirming only US$373 million when the actual money is more than double that, or why this Letter of Noble Intentions was not revealed earlier.

The content, far from supporting Sheikh Najib, simply reveals Umno penchant to shoot themselves in the foot. Would anybody on earth ever write such a letter?

The usual note with a gift would be along the lines of “Yo Jibby, my bro! Wassap, man? Here’s a small something as appreciation to you for putting the infidels in their places. Shalom, Sam”.

No, Sam had to include the entire kitchen sink to show that no strings were attached. Why? By the way, where did Sam demand “Please return surplus funds”?

FellowMalaysian: Why must a simple donation, which can be wired instantaneously into Najib’s account, be subject through a maze of transactions involving a slew of sleazy offshore banks known for their shady deals?

There was no mention in the letter that the funds were meant as a political donation, so the claim that it is not necessary to declare the deposit to BN is a fallacy.

Anonymous 1890491455255851: They have really fallen into the trap. Anyone reading the letter can see that it is suspicious.

And more importantly, have you noticed how they have conveniently not acknowledged or addressed all the other massive amounts of money that went into the PM’s account?

What is also laughable is when they think there is something going in their favour, they support the foreign media’s claims as true.

If it goes against them, they throw them in jail for asking questions or question their journalistic abilities.

Anonymous_1371515574: Last time when it was RM2.6 billion, they say most of it was returned, which is about RM2 billion. But now it is RM4.2 billion, so what happened to the RM2.2 billion?

And even if it was donated to the PM “to do as he wishes”, what kind of PM would take the money and splurge it on luxuries when the rakyat is suffering?

No matter how you see it, this PM needs to go.

RM2.6 Billion Turkey Haram: It also confirmed that Najib received astronomical sum from other sources.

Instead of being happy with the revelation that some money came from the royalty, the people must be alarmed at the huge amount Najib received into his private accounts.

Whatever the letter say is irrelevant. No one will donate such a huge sum without hoping for anything in return. There are many countries in the Middle East which do really need donation, and I wonder the Arab royalties are that generous to their leaders.

Now that if it is confirmed Najib has received so much donations, the country has more causes to worry.

Maplesyrup: Just as they confirmed the ‘donation’, can Putrajaya please co prince nfirm the credit card shopping spree?

Next, please explain, how can the PM justify such a big spending which did not commiserate with his salary?

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.