By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysia's attorney-general confirmed Thursday that two bank accounts alleged to have received $700 million in public funds belonged to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Abdul Gani Patail said the accounts could not be frozen as they had been closed, unlike six others frozen earlier this week due to their connection to allegations that funds from the state-owned investment arm 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) were channeled to Razak’s accounts.
"The special task force [investigating the claims] has obtained bank documents related to these accounts," Patail said in a joint statement.
Patail said the accounts at AmBank Islamic had been closed on Aug. 30, 2013 and March 9, 2015.
The statement marks the first time the task force has confirmed that Razak owned two accounts involved in the controversy, as even the premier had not done so while dismissing the allegations.
Patail also stressed that all investigation documents received by him are provided by the special task force, not those published in the press.
The Wall Street Journal and whistle blower site Sarawak Report released reports Friday quoting documents allegedly from an on-going probe into 1MDB that claimed that funds moved among 1MDB-linked government agencies, banks and entities, before ending up in Razak ’s accounts in five separate deposits.
The premier has insisted that he has not taken funds for personal gain as alleged by political opponents, whether it is from debt-ridden 1MDB, former subsidiary the Finance Ministry-owned SRC International, or other entities.
Malaysian police raided 1MDB offices in Kuala Lumpur's business district Wednesday, securing important materials such as the minutes of meetings of the board of directors, bank statements, reconciliation statements, ledger books and several laptops.
Meanwhile, a committee bound to parliament has said that 1MDB -- which has chalked up debt of 42 billion Ringgit ($11 billion) just six years after being set up -- continues to withhold crucial documents from the attorney-general.
Nur Jazlan Mohamed, Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chief, told a press conference that 1MDB must “fully cooperate as they have been widely claiming, if you have nothing to hide."
The comments came after the attorney-general briefed the committee on an interim audit report into the fund’s finances.
Mohamed said that if 1MDB continued withholding the documents, requested several times during a three-month auditing process that ended June 15, the Finance Ministry -- as its 100 percent stakeholder – would have to step in.
He expressed surprise that 1MDB would continue trying to skirt the demands despite drawing international attention amid an inquiry into whether it contravened the central bank’s rules and legislation in its foreign investments and offshore borrowings.
Regarding the 70-page interim report, Mohamed said the PAC is satisfied with the process of investigation, but underlined that they would have "more questions to ask" 1MDB's past and present management during meetings next month.
When asked of any alleged malpractices found in the report, Mohamed said it was "too early to comment.”
“But we have more questions to ask them with verified information, unlike before," he stressed.
The report covered preliminary analysis of 1MDB accounts, the government's borrowings and guarantees via 1MDB and the firm’s assets. It analyzed 1MDB's finances from 2009 until the end of 2014, also compiling a complete chronology of the fund’s formation and all its investments.
