KUALA LUMPUR, JULY 3: Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak must take leave from his position until the allegations of his direct involvement in 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) ‘missing’ funds are investigated, the DAP today said.
PM must take leave until all allegations are investigated
DAP Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua in an immediate response said, the Cabinet must adjourn an emergency meeting to discuss reports which claim that the money trail of 1MDB’s funds led to Najib’s personal bank accounts.
“The cabinet needs to call for an emergency meeting to discuss this latest development, where huge sums of money, nearly US$ 700 million — not RM700 million — was allegedly transferred into an account owned by the Prime Minister himself.
“They must call for the meeting and insist that he (Najib) takes leave from his position, until the matter can be fully investigated. That’s a very ‘gentle’ call because in any other developed democracy, the Prime Minister would have resigned,” Pua, who is also a Public Accounts Committee member, said.
Pua was responding to a report by whistleblower site, Sarawak Report, which detailed the money trail of US$681,999,976 leading to three personal accounts under the name “Dato’Sri Mohd Najib Bin Hj Abd Razak”.
The report this morning
“A total of US$681,999,976 (RM2.6 billion) was separately wire transferred from the Singapore branch of the Swiss Falcon private bank owned by the Abu Dhabi fund Aabar into the Prime Minister’s private AmBank account in Kuala Lumpur, on March 2013, just in advance of the calling of the General Election,” the report stated.
Among the key transactions it identified include the RM42 million recently flowed from a controversial company linked to 1MDB, SRC International Sdn Bhd, into the PM’s own private accounts.
This RM42 million, the site claimed, is shocking because it is the money lent by the public pension fund, Retirement Fund Incorporated, and was allegedly “never accounted for.”
Pua said the authorities must now demonstrate independence and impartiality in investigating this matter.
“All BN leaders must demonstrate this, in fact, and that there is still hope for BN after Najib. The time has come to take action now, or they will sink together with Najib,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a statement posted on its website, the debt-laden 1MDB denied that it provided funds to Najib.
“In reference to media reports published earlier today, 1MDB wishes to make clear that the company has never provided any funds to the Prime Minister. To suggest otherwise, as some media outlets have done, is highly irresponsible and a deliberate attempt to undermine the company,” the statement read.
“Recent revelations have raised concerns about the veracity of a number of ‘leaked’ documents which certain media outlets, and online blogs such as Sarawak Report, have used to mislead the public and justify spurious allegations against the company and the government,” it added.
1MDB also said the documents were found to be tampered with, and were being used by an individual to extort and blackmail his former employer.
“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,” it said.
It further urged the public to await official investigations to be concluded before making any conclusions.
– The Rocket
