This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 20, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s office has denied the claim by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that a sum of US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) remitted to Najib’s personal accounts came from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), reiterating that it was a donation from the Saudi royal family.

Najib’s press secretary Datuk Seri Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad also said in a statement yesterday that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was trying to unseat a democratically elected government and that he placed the interest of his son’s political career over national interest.

“The allegation that the funds were from 1MDB is completely false,” said Tengku Sariffuddin in response to the WSJ article.

“This is a lie that Tun [Dr] Mahathir Mohamad has unsuccessfully used to try and unseat a democratically elected government. He placed saving the political career of his son, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, above national interest,” he added.

Amid Dr Mahathir’s criticism of Najib over 1MDB’s affairs, Mukhriz stepped down as Kedah menteri besar in February, after announcing that he had lost the state legislative assembly’s majority support due to a concerted movement to oust him.

Tengku Sariffuddin reiterated that the funds Najib had received in his personal accounts were a donation from the royal family of Saudi Arabia, as verified by “multiple lawful authorities” after “exhaustive investigations”.

“The prime minister has consistently maintained that the funds were a donation from the royal family of Saudi Arabia,” he said.

“After exhaustive investigations, this has been verified by multiple lawful authorities, most recently by the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, who confirmed that it was a genuine donation. Nothing was expected in return, and Saudi Arabia considers the matter closed,” he added.