In Saudi Arabia, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that he accepted the attorney general’s opinion that there had been no wrongdoing, but he also said that he did not think that the money had come from the Saudi government or that it was a political donation.
“It is a private Saudi citizen, I believe, and the funds went to an investment in Malaysia,” he said in an interview on Thursday.
One member of the royal family and one associate of the family, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the money had come from a Saudi prince and confirmed that it was not a donation. The associate questioned the reported sum but said the funds were part of a business deal.
Will Najib now say that yes it was a business deal after all and so what?
Meanwhile, were the ‘”member of the royal family” and “associate of the family” by any chance Prince Turki and his pal Tarek Obaid, who are the owners of PetroSaudi?
In which case, sure it was a business deal. 1MDB (under Najib) paid them both tens of millions to allow their company to act as a front for siphoning billions out of the phoney joint venture.
Is he paying Turki more tens of millions to go round making these anonymous briefings?
Anonymous briefings about anonymous Saudis are likely to continue, but they just create more questions not more which Najib plainly cannot answer.