Malaysia graft agency says PM’s funds not linked to scandal

Demonstrators shout from a police van after they were detained during a protest against Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday.

The Malaysian Antiis thatCorruption said right now (Aug thee) that this US$700 m (S$964 mil) that’s channelled into Prime Minister Najib Razak’s individualized various bank accounts originated from benefactors.

The MACC said that during the formation of the special task force, MACC investigations only focused on issues related to 1MDB’s former subsidiary SRC global and the channelling of RM2.6bil into Najib’s personal account.

Najib has been underneath growing strain after leaked paperwork alleged that tens of millions had gone into his private account from a state fund 1MDB. 1MDB has denied transferring funds to Najib and an interim government report has found nothing suspicious.

In a statement to announce its findings, the MACC did not, however, disclose the identities of these donors or the goal of the contribution, as well as how the money was spent. The firm released a statement on Tuesday restating its innocence. Two officers of the MACC and an official from the attorney-general’s office were arrested over the weekend. Najib last week sacked his deputy premier, Muhyiddin Yassin, and other cabinet figures who had called for answers over 1MDB, as well as his attorney general, who was probing the allegations.

“1MDB welcomes the clear statement from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, which confirms that no funds from 1MDB were transferred to the Prime Minister”, it said.

A parliamentary investigation into the scandal has been put on hold as the man overseeing the probe was appointed deputy home minister and had to resign from his Public Accounts Committee post.