There was an outburst from BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor in court today when he was questioned about asset declarations he made while he was in cabinet.

According to the Malay Mail, Tengku Adnan (photo) became flushed and angry when grilled by the prosecution.

"When I say I don't want to declare myself (it is) because publicly you know why.

"Because now I have a problem with nearly a billion (ringgit) of assets. Because they want to sensationalise, that's why I feel I have been deprived," he was quoted as saying.

Tengku Adnan had earlier failed in his bid to have the Kuala Lumpur High Court hear portions of the trial, involving his asset declarations as a cabinet member, behind closed doors.

Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan ruled that the public must be allowed to hear the details for the trial to be transparent and fair.

When examined by defence counsel Tan Hock Chuan, Tengku Adnan said he declared assets amounting to RM938,643,566,16 in 2001 when Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister.

That year, Tengku Adnan was appointed deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department.

In 2006, Tengku Adnan declared that his assets amounted to RM711,325,822. At the material time, he was appointed tourism minister by then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

In 2013, Tengku Adnan declared that his assets amounted to RM691,770,649 to then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak. Tengku Adnan was Federal Territories minister for an entire term.

In 2016, Tengku Adnan made another asset declaration of RM782,748,061.

Tengku Adnan is currently facing trial for accepting a RM2 million bribe from a property developer.

The defence team's strategy involves proving that Tengku Adnan was already wealthy and had no need for the bribe.