Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Advertisement
On July 2, The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators believe almost $700 million had been deposited in Mr. Najib’s personal bank accounts following the movement of cash among agencies, banks and companies linked to 1MDB.
The order to freeze the accounts was issued last week, said the police, without divulging the name of the banks as investigation was still underway.
Mr Najib dismissed the report as “political sabotage” and threatened legal action, while 1MDB said it had not transferred any funds to the Malaysian premier, who is also the finance minister.
It’s the first time accounts outside of Malaysia have been frozen in connection to the probe into corruption at the state-run development firm, 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The Singapore Police Force didn’t give any details Wednesday of the bank accounts it had frozen, saying it would be inappropriate as investigations continue.
1MDB representatives and Malaysian government officials weren’t immediately available for comment.
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.
“We understand that the Malaysian authorities have launched investigations into certain matters related to 1MDB”, the Singapore Police Force, which has a unit dealing with financial crime, said in a statement sent to AFP. On Tuesday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said it was looking into whether banks had followed rules on reporting suspicious transactions and identifying customers and their sources of funds.
“We’re actually looking back to see if they have done all these things”, MAS managing director Ravi Menon told a news conference following the release of the bank’s annual report.
Advertisement
Malaysia’s anticorruption commission said it has detained two people to assist with investigations into 1MDB, including a 54-year-old man who was detained Wednesday.
