Following the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) 1MDB-related civil forfeiture suits in 2016, former premier Najib Abdul Razak had purportedly attempted to shield his stepson Riza Aziz.

This was revealed in the audio recordings released by MACC, which the commission said are authentic.

According to MACC, Najib called United Arab Emirates crown prince Mohammed Zayed Al Nahyan twice on July 22, 2016.

In the recordings played to the media at a press conference in Putrajaya today, the former premier made a "personal request" to Mohammed with regard to Riza.

When asked for comments on the recording today Najib said he needed time to study the contents of the audio recordings and would discuss it with his lawyers.

Najib also suggested that the "timing" of the release was linked to the Kimanis by-election campaign.