Malaysia’s anti-corruption agency says it will appeal against the attorney general’s decision to clear Prime Minister Najib Razak of criminal charges over a $681 million financial scandal.
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MACC Special Operations Director Bahri Mohd Zin, told the news portal it was “most likely” that the Commission would consider appealing to the AG to reconsider his decision in the “straightforward case”.
Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali appeared to have drawn a line under the scandal on Tuesday, announcing that the money was a private gift from Saudi Arabia’s royal family and that no further action needed to be taken on the matter.
In August, the Attorney General Chambers revealed that the funds were not from 1MBD, but political donations to the Razak-led United Malays National Organization (UMNO) for the party to remain in power during the 13th General Election.
He added that investigations showed a sum of US$620 million (RM2.03 billion) was returned by Najib in August that same year because “the sum was not utilised”.
“There was no reason given as to why the donation was made to PM Najib, that is between him and the Saudi family”, Apandi said.
The MACC had opened three investigations into Razak over the funds, and two on the finance ministry’s SRC International Sdn Bhd after international media released reports in July quoting documents from a probe into state investment vehicle 1MDB – Razak’s brainchild, of which SRC is a subsidiary – that claimed that $700 million (or 2.67 billion Ringgit) from 1MDB ending up in Razak’s accounts. He said there was no proof that the money was given as an inducement or reward to Najib in return for a favor.
Saudi government officials in Riyadh had no immediate comment about the investigation. It also was not mentioned on the state-run Saudi Press Agency early Tuesday.
Opposition lawmaker Tony Pua slammed Apandi’s decision, saying the fact that it was a personal donation did not rule out corruption.
At the center of the graft scandal was the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund, which was founded, and is chaired, by Najib.
Apandi also cleared Najib of graft at government-owned SRC International, a firm linked to 1MDB, over another 42 million ringgit ($9.8 million) from SRC that was deposited into Najib’s account between December 2014 and February 2015. Critics have long voiced concern over its massive debt and lack of transparency.
He said there was no evidence to show Najib was aware of the money transfer, nor that he had given his approval.
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However, popular opinion seems to be against Najib as he tries to rebuild support ahead of a 2018 general election, and on Wednesday commentators and critics denounced the attorney-general’s ruling as a whitewash.
