Malaysia’s attorney general says has seen documents on Najib allegations

Najib went on to say that at no point have those making these allegations offered any evidence.

Najib has denied taking any money from the state fund or any other entity for personal gain.

Thomson ReutersMalaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak arrives to break fast at Saujana Menteri Besar in Malaysia’s southern state of Johor KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s attorney-general said on Saturday that a task force investigating state fund 1MDB had passed several documents to him, including ones connected to allegations that money was transferred into the account of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Meanwhile, deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin said authorities must immediately investigate the allegations made against Mr Najib in the newspaper report. “This matter must be given serious attention as it involved Najib’s image and credibility as prime minister”, he said in a statement yesterday.

Mr Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, chairs 1MDB’s board of advisors. In a period of less than five years since it was set up, the company accumulated debt of 41.9 billion ringgit ($11.1 billion).

As for now, it was known that a number of the documents on which recent allegations have been based were reportedly doctored.

The debt-ridden 1MDB had already been the subject of a probe by both the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee after allegations of financial mismanagement. “I believe Tun (Dr Mahathir), working hand in glove with foreign nationals, including the now discredited political attack blog Sarawak Report, is behind this latest lie”, he claimed.

Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, a director of SRC worldwide, declined to comment.

Muhyiddin characterised the report by Wall Street Journal (WSJ) which claimed that Najib had received the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund as serious and capable of tarnishing the government’s credibility.

Opposition leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail demanded that the premier declare his assets publicly in a sworn statement. “We are therefore surprised that documents such as these, whose existence and authenticity have not been publicly verified, continue to be used as a basis to create new unsubstantiated allegations against 1MDB”.

The money supposedly moved through another company, Gandingan Mentari (owned by SRC International) and then to Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd (which provides corporate social responsibility programmes for 1MDB’s charitable foundation) and finally to Najib’s personal accounts in three separate deposits.

Xavier Justo is also alleged to have given information about the two companies to Sarawak Report.