KUALA LUMPUR: While Prime Minister Najib Razak and his supporters have been busy justifying the RM2.6 billion political funding given to him, a critic has asked him to explain the RM42 million which was also allegedly transferred into his personal accounts.
Whistle-blower site Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown said it was curious that Najib had not said anything about this RM42 million.
“Plainly if the PM had an acceptable answer to this RM42 million that went into his account from the public pension fund via the company SRC, he would have provided it.
“In the same way he could have dealt with all the other scandalous matters that have come to light if he had nothing to hide,” she told Berita Daily today.
In early July, Sarawak Report and Wall Street Journal reported that about US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) was transferred into Najib's personal account just before the last general election. They alluded that the money could be linked to the state firm 1MDB.
Najib, however, denied using 1MDB funds for personal gain, and since then the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission had said that the RM2.6 billion was a political donation from unnamed donors from the Middle East.
After that Najib and his loyalists have been justifying the donation which they claimed were given to Najib over Malaysia's commitment to fight terrorism and champion Islam.
Najib himself has not revealed the identity of the donors but Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed the legitimacy of the donation by saying that he had seen the paper work and spoken to the donors. He too, did not identify the donors.
While this was about the RM2.6 billion, both Sarawak Report and Wall Street Journal also claimed that Najib had received another RM42 million between December last year to February this year from a former 1MDB subsidiary, SRC International Sdn Bhd. SRC International is now owned by the Finance Ministry, of which Najib is the minister.
The money was allegedly part of the RM4 billion loan taken by SRC International from the pensions fund (KWAP) and re-routed to Najib's accounts via other companies.
Yesterday, the MACC said that it was still investigating the RM42 million fund transfer and confirmed that its probe over the RM2.6 billion transfer was not closed. The agency is also looking for two SRC directors and tycoon Jho Low to assist in this investigation.
The MACC was responding to allegations from certain parties that investigations on the RM2.6 billion had been concluded, and Najib cleared of any wrongdoing.
“As was said in the Aug 3 and 5 press statements, we would like to reiterate that the MACC had only said that the RM2.6 billion funds are from a Middle Eastern donor and not from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB),” said the commission.
Clare said that Najib should reveal about the existence of the RM42 million in his personal accounts.
He should show how this RM42 million was spent, for example, because my sources have indicated that a lot of it went on credit card bills and personal expenses.
“If my sources are wrong, Najib should publish his statement on these bank accounts and prove them wrong.
“After all, this was public money, so the public have an absolute right to be informed how he spent every cent of it.
“Therefore, Najib's silence speaks volumes,” she added.
Whistle-blower site Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown said it was curious that Najib had not said anything about this RM42 million.
“Plainly if the PM had an acceptable answer to this RM42 million that went into his account from the public pension fund via the company SRC, he would have provided it.
“In the same way he could have dealt with all the other scandalous matters that have come to light if he had nothing to hide,” she told Berita Daily today.
In early July, Sarawak Report and Wall Street Journal reported that about US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) was transferred into Najib's personal account just before the last general election. They alluded that the money could be linked to the state firm 1MDB.
Najib, however, denied using 1MDB funds for personal gain, and since then the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission had said that the RM2.6 billion was a political donation from unnamed donors from the Middle East.
After that Najib and his loyalists have been justifying the donation which they claimed were given to Najib over Malaysia's commitment to fight terrorism and champion Islam.
Najib himself has not revealed the identity of the donors but Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi confirmed the legitimacy of the donation by saying that he had seen the paper work and spoken to the donors. He too, did not identify the donors.
While this was about the RM2.6 billion, both Sarawak Report and Wall Street Journal also claimed that Najib had received another RM42 million between December last year to February this year from a former 1MDB subsidiary, SRC International Sdn Bhd. SRC International is now owned by the Finance Ministry, of which Najib is the minister.
The money was allegedly part of the RM4 billion loan taken by SRC International from the pensions fund (KWAP) and re-routed to Najib's accounts via other companies.
Yesterday, the MACC said that it was still investigating the RM42 million fund transfer and confirmed that its probe over the RM2.6 billion transfer was not closed. The agency is also looking for two SRC directors and tycoon Jho Low to assist in this investigation.
The MACC was responding to allegations from certain parties that investigations on the RM2.6 billion had been concluded, and Najib cleared of any wrongdoing.
“As was said in the Aug 3 and 5 press statements, we would like to reiterate that the MACC had only said that the RM2.6 billion funds are from a Middle Eastern donor and not from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB),” said the commission.
Clare said that Najib should reveal about the existence of the RM42 million in his personal accounts.
He should show how this RM42 million was spent, for example, because my sources have indicated that a lot of it went on credit card bills and personal expenses.
“If my sources are wrong, Najib should publish his statement on these bank accounts and prove them wrong.
“After all, this was public money, so the public have an absolute right to be informed how he spent every cent of it.
“Therefore, Najib's silence speaks volumes,” she added.
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