Malaysia’s 1MDB files police report over leaking of information

The government investment body said, despite these admissions, “no action has been taken against parties who have published the said documents, nor against the parties leaking them in contravention of the law”.

In the latest salvo Tuesday, Apandi said Bank Negara didn’t request information from 1MDB such as names or bank account numbers of recipients of its investments, or ask how funds would be transferred overseas.

Earlier this year, Khairuddin lodged reports against 1MDB in France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Khairuddin and Chang should be released immediately, Dr Mahathir said, as the use of Sosma against them was an abuse of the legal process and a violation of the law’s objective. “There are problems of concern and it is up to the prime minister to consider what he should do that is best for the nation”.

On July 28, Prime Minister Najib Razak dumped his deputy and four others in a cabinet reshuffle.

A dispute between Malaysia’s attorney general and central bank over investigations into a debt-ridden state investment company has become increasingly public, highlighting tensions over the matter ahead of the resumption of the country’s parliament.

On Monday, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has led calls for Najib to resign over the 1MDB issue, slammed the prosecution of Khairuddin and Chang, and their arrest under the Security Offences Act. The central bank was previously working with former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail in a joint special task force, looking into Wall Street Journal allegations that 1MDB funds had made their way into the Prime Minister personal coffers.

1MDB was responding to Pua’s statement on Monday, where he urged the firm to confirm if it had breached BNM’s overseas funds transfer regulations, following confirmation that minutes of a board meeting revealed by whistleblower website Sarawak Report is authentic.

“By dismissing this case suspicions will remain in the minds of the people”, said Dr Mahathir, who has waged a relentless campaign for Mr Najib’s resignation.

Mr Najib has also been dogged by questions about his own finances after financial investigators found that almost $700 million had been paid into his personal bank account. What I’m asking is for them to be more expressive through the many platforms.

The central bank’s statement raised the pressure on 1MDB, which is at the center of a political crisis in Malaysia over its debt of almost 42 billion ringgit ($10.05 billion) and alleged financial graft.

A recent New York Times investigative report also detailed multi-million-dollar purchases of luxury U.S. real estate by a close Najib family associate and 1MDB figure, financier Low Taek Jho.

Dr Mahathir called for a new inquiry after one of the two men convicted of the murder – Mr Najib’s former bodyguard Sirul Azhar Umar – claimed he had followed orders to kill her.

They face up to 15 years in jail if found guilty.