PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang says the 1MDB probe will be a waste of time if the prime minister does not step aside during the course of investigation. – The Malaysian Insider filepic, July 5, 2015.
Its vice-president Chua Tian Chang said if Najib continues being in his position, the public would find it difficult to believe that the investigations are being done without fear or favour.
Attorney-General (A-G) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail yesterday confirmed to having seen the alleged documents regarding the fund transfers and said a special task force was set up along with the police and Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) to probe into the matter.
"We all understand the immense power vested in the PM. It will be a waste of time if the A-G or any task force continues to investigate 1MDB under the stewardship of Najib," Chua said in a statement today.
"If the PM has nothing to hide, he should be brave enough to at least temporarily step aside to allow an independent inquiry."
He also questioned if the A-G would have announced the probe and reveal having seen the documents if not for the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that alleged the transactions, believed to be close to US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) in total.
“This was because the police had completed investigations on 1MDB back in March this year and submitted their papers to the A-G's Chambers.
"From March 9 to July 3, it seems the A-G had been sitting on the information without action," Chua said.
On Friday, business daily WSJ said investigations into the debt-ridden 1MDB had allegedly uncovered billions of ringgit pumped into Najib's personal accounts.
In their reports, both WSJ and whistleblower site Sarawak Report had quoted from documents from the 1MDB probe by the Malaysian government, with Sarawak Report claiming that the A-G was also aware of the information.
The documents allegedly showed US$700 million was moved among government agencies, banks and entities linked to 1MDB, which finally ended in the prime minister's personal accounts at the AmPrivate Bank in Kuala Lumpur, in five separate deposits.
WSJ said that the largest transactions were deposits of US$620 million and another one for US$61 million between March 2013 and February this year. The first transaction was done two months before the 13th general election.
Sarawak Report said RM42 million had gone into Najib's accounts from SRC International Sdn Bhd, the Finance Ministry-owned company that had taken a RM4 billion loan from the Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP).
The latest transaction, the reports said, was in February this year. The documents show that SRC International had transferred RM10 million into an account under the name of “Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Bin Hj Abd Razak” at the AmPrivate Bank.
Najib previously had blamed the WSJ report on former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had become Najib's fiercest critic in recent months.
In a post in his Facebook page on Friday, Najib had said these attacks began when he refused to implement Dr Mahathir’s personal demands, adding that the former prime minister then “created a crisis” by recklessly claiming that RM42 million was missing from 1MDB.
"I believe Tun, working hand in glove with foreign nationals, including the now discredited political attack blog Sarawak Report, is behind this latest lie,” he said.
He had denied the report, which claimed that some US$700 million of 1MDB funds were transferred to his personal account before the 2013 general election.
This is the first time Najib has been directly linked with 1MDB's woes, as the company sits on a RM42 billion debt. He is also chairman of its advisory board.
- TMI
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