‘None of frozen accounts in 1MDB probe belong to Najib’

(Today Online) – None of the six bank accounts frozen in the ongoing investigation of alleged US$700 million (S$948 million) transfers from 1Malaysia Development Berhad to Prime Minister Najib Razak belong to the Premier, announced the Attorney-General yesterday.

The probe came following allegations made in a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) last Friday, which claimed that about US$700 million had been funnelled from the state investment vehicle into Mr Najib’s personal bank accounts.

“The Attorney General … clarified that the freeze orders issued on July 6, 2015 did not involve any accounts allegedly held by the Prime Minister,” read a statement issued by the AG’s Chambers yesterday.

In the same statement, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail warned that Malaysian officials who allegedly leaked confidential information to the WSJ on the ongoing investigations will face the full brunt of the law.

Mr Gani added that the apparent leak that led to last Friday’s WSJ report was a criminal offence.

“The Attorney-General stressed that this was not a question of whistle-blowing because the matter is already under investigation,” he said, referring to the authorities’ ongoing audit of the firm’s RM42 billion (S$14.9 billion) debt and financial dealings.

“A further concern was that the documents were allegedly leaked from within the investigation itself,” added Mr Gani.

Mr Najib has strongly denied the claims made by the WSJ and said it was part of a political sabotage.

Yesterday, he accused the WSJ of having “malicious intent” and being in cahoots with certain quarters in the country to bring him down.

“I would like to once again state that I have never taken 1MDB’s funds for my personal use,” said Mr Najib in his latest blog post.

“Wall Street Journal’s accusations are a malicious intent supported by certain quarters in the country, with the purpose of forcing me to resign as Prime Minister and UMNO president,” he said, referring to ruling party United Malays National Organisation.

As part of the Special Task Force’s probe into the allegations, a nine-hour raid of 1MDB’s Kuala Lumpur office was also carried out yesterday.

Officials were seen taking away a metal box-like object resembling a computer hard drive unit and an opaque plastic box as the raid concluded yesterday evening.

1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy declined to confirm the items that had been seized, when he emerged from the building at 6.50pm.

“The police arrived at 9.40am and conducted an investigation in a very thorough manner,” he said, adding that 1MDB was extending its full cooperation to the authorities.

He declined to comment further, saying that 1MDB was now the subject of an official investigation. “There is nothing more to add.”

The WSJ on Tuesday posted documents online detailing the money trail to back up its earlier report, claiming the papers were sourced from a “Malaysian government investigation”.

The documents include a remittance application form, a cash deposit authorisation letter and charts outlining the flow of money, but some numbers were blanked out.

Mr Najib said he had directed his lawyers to send a letter to the WSJ requesting an explanation of its report, adding they would decide on further action after receiving a response. “The Special Task Force is carrying out an investigation to determine whether the accusations by the Wall Street Journal that I had taken 1MDB’s funds for personal use are substantiated,” said Mr Najib. “The investigation must take into account the authenticity of the documents that were released to support the publication’s actions.” AGENCIES