PETALING JAYA: Intense scrutiny on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is showing no signs of letting up, now that a Swiss criminal investigation is underway to get to the bottom of a possible USD4 billion having been misappropriated.
“Switzerland’s unusually aggressive intervention reflects international concern that the Malaysian authorities may have been trying to bury the story,” the Financial Times (FT) said in an article, citing Attorney-General (AG) Apandi Ali’s having recently cleared Prime Minister Najib Razak of all criminal wrongdoing in the case of a RM2.6 billion donation he received in his bank accounts, which critics alleged was linked to 1MDB.
Commenting on the Swiss investigation was John Pang, a senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, who told the Financial Times: “This makes it very difficult for the Attorney-General to simply close off the investigation. It makes the Attorney-General’s statement difficult to credit.”
The FT report said however that Apandi had pointed out that the RM2.6 billion donation case and ongoing investigations into 1MDB, were two “entirely separate” matters.
The AG’s Chambers also pledged to “collaborate” with their Swiss counterparts in their investigations despite repeated denials by Najib of any misappropriation of funds or criminal wrongdoing as alleged by the investment fund’s critics, of which the prime minister is chairman to its advisory board.
The Swiss Attorney-General however has said there were “allegations of criminal conduct” in four cases involving 1MDB, in a period spanning 2009 to 2013, although none involved Najib himself as a suspect.
The cases were related to five companies namely PetroSaudi; SRC International; Genting; Tanjong; and ADMIC, a joint venture between 1MDB and Aabar Investments, which is controlled by Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company.
Source from FMT NEWS
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