The investigative team was responding to fresh allegations raised yesterday by London-based whistleblower site Sarawak Report surrounding a dubious cash deposit of some RM2 million into an Affin Bank Berhad account said to belong to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor earlier this year.
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A special task force probing an alleged money trail to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts is also investigating one of his wife’s accounts, after a revelation by Sarawak Report that some 2 million Ringgit ($527,987) was deposited into it.
“The special task force already knew about the matter on Prime Minister wife’s bank account even before it was reported by the media”.
The allegation against Rosmah Mansor is another blow to Najib, who himself is being investigated on suspicion that hundreds of millions of dollars were funneled from state investment fund 1MDB into his personal accounts.
Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail said Friday the task force is aware of the allegation against Rosmah and that an investigation is underway.
Rosmah’s lawyers slammed the news report as “menacing and false”.
The task force also said it takes a serious view of all the allegations concerning 1MDB and will be recording statements of all relevant persons.
“My client has not committed any criminal offence or any misappropriation of funds and strongly denies any links to the funds being from 1MDB”, the law firm Messrs Noorhajran Mohd Noor said in a statement late on Friday.
An Affin Bank spokesperson said it is unable to comment or disclose information in relation to the bank’s customers and accounts.
Instead, the task force stressed that it is being transparent, independent and professional in its investigation of 1MDB and called on all not to question the authority of the team. Critics have voiced concern about 1MDB’s massive debt and lack of transparency.
Malaysian investigators have stated they are tracing bank transactions made by the prime minister’s wife, this comes following media reports that up to $700m was siphoned into possible accounts of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bank accounts.
Najib has denied taking any money for personal gain and said the corruption allegations are part of a malicious campaign to force him out of office.
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The global business daily published the “Government Documents From Probe of Najib Razak” on their website saying the documents came from a “Malaysian government investigation”. However, support for the coalition has eroded in the last two general elections.
