Today (22 May 2018) was the day for our former prime minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak as he gave his statement on the 1MDB case at the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters.
While many were expecting Najib to come clean today and be prosecuted for his alleged involvement with the 1MDB graft-scandal, it was made clear that he was only summoned to provide a statement and not to get arrested.
Source: The Malay Mail
Nevertheless, new information on 1MDB was still promised to the rakyat and the media.
Holding on to their promise, MACC chief Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull said that there was no evidence supporting Najib’s claims that the RM2.6 billion deposited into his bank account came from a prince in Saudi Arabia in 2014, according to The Malay Mail.
Shukri said that MACC investigators were sent to Saudi Arabia in 2015 to meet the prince who donated the money but he couldn’t provide any documents to prove Najib’s claims.
Uh-oh, looks like the skeleton in the closet has been revealed!
Source: The Malay Mail
Prior to this, Najib had denied his involvement in the 1MDB scandal but he still shut down the initial investigation by replacing the attorney-general and several MACC officers. He also swore that the RM2.6 billion was a donation from a Saudi Prime.
Nonetheless, paying no heed to Najib’s claims, the MACC’s new investigation’s initial focus was on “how RM42 million went from SRC International to Najib’s account”.
If you aren’t aware, SRC was created by Najib’s administration in 2011 to work on “overseas investments in energy resources”. Not only that, it was also a unit of 1MDB before it was moved to the finance ministry in 2012.
Source: The Star
Hence, this allowed MACC to easily track SRC’s money trail as transactions were made through Malaysian organisations while most of the 1MDB transfers were made through foreign banks and companies.
Therefore, to pursue the 1MDB investigations, the current government had created a task-force consisting of members of the anti-graft agency, police and the central bank to work alongside “enforcement agencies in the United States, Switzerland, Singapore, Canada and other related countries”.
Source: FMT
On a side note, the US Department of Justice said that they will also continue their 1MDB investigations and is looking forward to work with the Malaysian law enforcement authorities.
The more help we get, the faster we solve the case!
On the other hand, Shukri cleared the air and said that Kevin Morais’ death has nothing to do with the 1MDB graft scandal.
Source: The Sun Daily
“Kevin Morais (death) has nothing to do with the case because he was the prosecutor on the army colonel falsifying claims case,” he explained during a press conference at the MACC headquarters.
So, quit the speculation guys!
With that said, as the special task-force embarks on the journey to bring justice to the 1MDB case, we hope that more truths will be uncovered as the probe furthers.
The truth will prevail and justice will be served!
Also read: Najib is All Smiles Upon Arriving at MACC’s HQ to Give Statement
