“All Malaysians who can read English knows that Najib is the Malaysian official number 1”, said Kadir Jasin, a close associate of Mahathir.
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The hashtag #MalaysianOfficial1 was trending on Thursday.
The US complaints, filed in Los Angeles, allege a complex money-laundering scheme that the Justice Department says was meant to enrich top-level officials of the government-controlled fund.
He added that there have been no criminal charges pressed against any individuals for misappropriating funds from 1MDB.
Singapore’s Attorney General announced that assets worth over $175 million had been seized.
Also included were artworks by the painters Monet and Van Gogh as well as a Bombardier Global 5000 business jet.
Prosecutors are seeking to seize film royalties from a production company owned by Najib’s stepson, Red Granite, including those generated by The Wolf of Wall Street.
Red Granite said on Wednesday that none of the funding it received four years ago was illegitimate and nothing the company or Riza did was wrong.
Mr Najib created 1MDB in 2009 to promote Malaysia’s economic development. “Those involved would have to go through the court process in the US”, Najib told reporters at Malaysian palm plantation operator Felda’s open house in Kuala Lumpur. “We have to establish the facts first”.
He said the Malaysian government “should be conspicuous about making clear that they’re committed to transparency and good governance, and the kind of rules that will encourage people who are considering investing in Malaysia’s fast-growing economy to have confidence that they can do so fairly”.
“On the aforementioned cooperation, it focuses on the possibility of embezzlement and money laundering by a businessman that is said to have cheated 1MDB”, MACC said in a statement, although it did not identify the person in question. Mr Najib has been under intense political pressure over the RM2.6 billion (S$867 million) deposited into his private accounts, as well as irregularities in 1MDB. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said in April that funds wired into Najib’s personal bank account were a “genuine” donation originating from Saudi Arabia.
Not only have our institutions been compromised, in his desparation to avoid justice, Najib, along with the inspector general of police and the attorney general have harassed hundreds of critics through a slew of draconian laws, including the Sedition Act, the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, the Official Secrets Act and the Peaceful Assembly Act.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s parliamentary opposition leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail demanded that Razak immediately step down to enable a fair and independent investigation by the DOJ and other probing agencies.
Former Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad, who has been locked in a lengthy and bitter feud with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, joined in the social media frenzy as well.
However, the US complaints are by far the biggest threat to Najib’s credibility and hence stability that could reinvigorate the opposition and ruling party members who are secretly opposed to him.
“This is an indictment of the involvement of the prime minister and his government in the mismanagement and, well, stealing… of money that belongs to the people”, he said.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore earlier on Thursday disclosed that its preliminary findings show instances of control failings in DBS, and the Singapore branches of StanChart and Swiss bank UBS. The previous largest case in February sought to seize $850 million.
Leslie Caldwell, US assistant attorney general, said that neither 1MDB nor the Malaysia people saw “a penny of profit from that film”, or the other assets that were purchased with fund siphoned from 1MDB.
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Goldman Sachs made more than $192 million in fees by underwriting $3.5 billion in bonds, according to the USA government.
