The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today stated officially that RM2.6 billion in Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal accounts were from “donors”, and not from sovereign development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as previously alleged.
In a statement announcing its findings, the MACC however did not disclose the identities of these donors, the purpose of their donations, or the manner in which the donated money was spent.
“The report resulting from the investigation involving the RM2.6 billion has been referred and informed to the Attorney-General.
“The result of the investigation found that the fund totalling RM2.6 billion allegedly deposited into the accounts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was a contribution from donors, and not from 1MDB,” the statement said, as quoted by The Malay Mail Online.
Almost exactly a month ago, The Wall Street Journal published an article alleging that some USD700 million (RM2.6 billion) in funds from 1MDB had been transferred from the company’s coffers into two AmBank accounts under Najib’s name in 2013, a month before the 13th General Elections.
In the immediate aftermath of the published allegations, Najib had insisted that he had taken no money for “his own personal gain”; he also termed the allegations as part of a foreign conspiracy to force him to resign from the posts of Prime Minister and UMNO President, and singled out former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad as one of the persons plotting his downfall.
Najib’s lawyers sent a letter of inquiry to the WSJ and its parent, Dow Jones & Company, to “seek clarification” on whether the article had accused Najib of misappropriating funds. Dow Jones asserted that it had no reason to clarify further than what the WSJ article had already stated.
Despite public speculation and even anticipation that it would, Najib’s legal team has not proceeded to actually sue the WSJ for defamation or any other reason.
Last Tuesday, Najib reshuffled his Cabinet, ousting Muhyiddin Yassin from the post of Deputy Prime Minister (and Education Minister), replacing him with Home Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in the #2 spot.
Muhyiddin and several other members of the Cabinet, such as former Rural Development Minister Shafie Apdal, had been seen as critical of Najib’s handling of the 1MDB issue.
Also fired on the same day was former Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail, whose agency had to that point been part of the Federal Government’s Special Task Force investigating the 1MDB allegations, along with the PDRM, the MACC, and Bank Negara.
Also last week, government officials, in particular Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan began floating the talking point that under the UMNO constitution, the party’s president was allowed to have a holding account under his name, to store party funds to be saved or used when necessary.
The MACC stated today that its role in the Special Task Force is to investigate former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International and the RM4 billion loan it had taken out with Retirement Fund Inc.
Other aspects of the investigation on 1MDB, the agency said, are left to the PDRM and Bank Negara.
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