(Repeating story first sent Wednesday night to additional subscribers)
LANGKAWI, Malaysia, June 20 (Reuters) - Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak sat down with Reuters reporters for his first sit-down interview since his shock May 9 election defeat, and talked extensively about the 1MDB scandal, the hundreds of luxury handbags and other assets seized from him by the Malaysian authorities, and how he is coping with the investigation.
See below some of the highlights from the interview. For related story:
On the 1MDB scandal:
"I didn't benefit from 1MDB, because I believe that the 1MDB was created to do something good for the country.
"If I knew there was going to be misappropriation of funds, if that was my knowledge, I would have acted."
On whether he blames the 1MDB board for the fund's troubles:
"No. I am saying as a general principle, if they are in the know that something is not right, then it is incumbent upon them to tell me... It is the fiduciary duty of the board and the management to do the right thing. I expect them to do the right and to follow the law."
On Malaysian financier Jho Low:
"We have no control over what he does. I cannot pass judgement. But there are certain things which he may or may not have done. But I am alright to say that investigations should proceed and if anyone is found to be on the wrong side of the law, let the legal process take its course.
"No, he was not working on my behalf. All those items he never invoked my name, but he did say he was acting for someone else."
When asked who Low was acting for, Najib said: "You have to ask him that."
On jewellery, including a pink diamond set for his wife:
"I do not know exactly the source of funding for these things. All I know is when I asked my wife, she said that there was one instance it was supposed to be a gift for her. But she never received it."
On why he did not say much about 1MDB allegations earlier:
"All these things happened outside Malaysia. There is some international ramifications if I were to say, because I would name certain prominent individuals who might affect our diplomatic relations with them. It was on that basis I refrained from saying it."
On whether his stepson used 1MDB funds to produce movies:
"...I would also like to place on record that Riza has done very well... the movies, the box office sales has reached beyond $800 million. So it is not abusing concern. It is a profitable concern. But source of funding is subject to investigation. I think we will leave at that."
On $681 million moved to Najib's personal account in 2013: