KUALA LUMPUR — Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said he bought a US$130,625 (S$177,650) Chanel watch for his wife Rosmah Mansor to appease his family who were unhappy their vacation to Hawaii in 2014 was cut short for him to resume work.

Testifying on Tuesday (Dec 10) as the first defence witness in his SRC International corruption trial, Mr Najib said he needed to return to the country early due to the massive floods during the annual monsoon season in December that year.

“Throughout the whole time (in Hawaii) I was following the east coast flooding development and I felt compelled to return home; that is why I cut my vacation short. They (my family) were very sad I had to leave them.

“Coincidentally, it was close to my wife’s birthday and that time they felt disappointed with my decision (to return home).

“Therefore, I made the decision to buy something to placate my family and buy something my wife chose,” he told the High Court.

The 2014-2015 floods are considered the worst to have hit Malaysia in decades, costing millions of losses and several deaths.

On Monday, Mr Najib testified that the watch he bought using his AmBank credit card linked to his personal account was a present for Ms Rosmah, whose birthday is on Dec 10.

Mr Najib later stressed that the watch was purely a personal purchase and not for other matters.

The former prime minister is on trial over seven charges related to SRC International.

Three are for criminal breach of trust over a total RM42 million (S$13.7 million) of SRC International funds while entrusted with its control as the then-prime minister and finance minister; three more are for laundering the RM42 million; and the last is for abusing the same positions for self-gratification of the same sum. MALAY MAIL