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Saudi confirms 'genuine' $681M donation to Malaysian PM
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Construction workers chat in front of a billboard for state investment fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) at the fund's flagship Tun Razak Exchange development in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 14, 2015. (AP/Joshua Paul)
S
audi Arabia's foreign minister says US$681 million banked into the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's bank accounts was a "genuine donation."
Najib's office said Friday that the confirmation by Adel Al-Jubeir vindicates Najib against allegations that the money was siphoned from heavily indebted state investment fund 1MDB.
Al-Jubeir says Saudi authorities were aware of the donation, and that it was given without any strings attached. Malaysia's foreign ministry provided a video clip of Al-Jubeir's comments, made Thursday to Malaysian reporters in Istanbul after a meeting with Najib.
Najib has been battling allegations that the money was funneled from 1MDB into his accounts. He was cleared in January by the attorney general, who said it was a donation from Saudi's royal family and that Najib had returned most of it.
