Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Kuala Lumpur, Najib said his government would give its full cooperation to an global investigation of the 1MDB case.
Advertisement
The money was allegedly laundered through “complex transactions and fraudulent shell companies” with bank accounts located in Singapore, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the U.S.
These figures include Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz, Jho Low, other officials, and an individual the USA filing calls “Malaysian Official 1” – a thinly-veiled apparent reference to Najib himself.
No one has yet been charged, but the United States government has announced its…
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. Among them is his stepson, Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz, who co-founded movie production studio Red Granite Pictures, and businessman Low Taek Jho, who is close to Najib’s family.
The lawsuits filed by the US Department of Justice allege that US$681 million from a 2013 bond sale by 1MDB was transferred to an account belonging to “Malaysian Official 1”.
The 1Malaysia Development Fund was created in 2009 by Najib shortly after he took office to promote economic development projects.
Among the Justice Department’s assertions: That some $1 billion originating with 1MDB was plowed into hotels; luxury real estate in Manhattan, Beverly Hills and London; fine art; a private jet and the 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street”. Wan Azizah said in a statement on Thursday.
The US Justice Department investigation is a damning indictment of the entire structure surrounding 1MDB.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said yesterday the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) statement issued Wednesday clearly stated that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was not under investigation by the USA authorities.
She added that the civil action and asset seizures related to the case represent the “largest single action ever brought” by the US’s kleptocracy asset initiative. “They are certainly bigger than any one person, regardless of who he or she may be”, Wan Saiful said, adding however, that Malaysia can not take the actions of the DoJ lightly.
Red Granite said on Wednesday that none of the funding it received to make the Oscar-nominated film, which took $400 million at the box office worldwide, was illegitimate and nothing the company or Riza did was wrong. “With this action, we are seeking to forfeit and recover funds that were meant to grow the Malaysian economy and support the Malaysian people”.
Wan Saiful also does not think that the latest developments will inflict long-term damage to bilateral relationships between Malaysia and America or Singapore.
The A-G had previously in January cleared Najib of any wrongdoing, saying the money was a political donation from the Saudi royal family.
The lawsuit alleges a complex money laundering scheme that the Justice Department said was meant to enrich top-level officials of 1MDB.
Advertisement
As the scandal escalated, Najib purged 1MDB critics from his cabinet, curbed domestic investigations, and enacted a tough new security law, sparking accusations that he was imperilling Malaysia’s already fragile democracy to save his skin.
