(July 13): The prime minister's brother, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, has praised Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) for its assurance that it will not betray the public trust, as the central bank counters allegations that its officials had leaked confidential information to the media involving troubled 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

In a posting on photo sharing site Instagram, the CIMB group chairman uploaded a picture of BNM and a quote from BNM's statement yesterday.

"'Bank Negara Malaysia remains steadfast.... and will not betray the trust of the public'.

"Great statement – timely, firm and unambiguous," he said on his Instagram account.

BNM yesterday said claims that its officials had leaked information on investigations into 1MDB were without basis and had lodged a police report on the matter.

Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin on Saturday had named three top BNM officials as being under investigation on suspicion of having leaked confidential information to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

WSJ reported last month that 1MDB funds may have indirectly funded part of prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's campaign in the 2013 general election, after the firm bought overpriced power assets from the Genting Group.

Genting allegedly used part of the proceeds from the sale to make a RM35 million donation to a foundation under Najib, who then promoted projects by this charity during his election campaign.

In another report on July 2, WSJ also alleged that some US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) was funnelled into two of Najib's accounts at AmBank in Kuala Lumpur, with the largest portion of the money – US$681 million – allegedly transferred to Najib's accounts in March 2013, ahead of GE13.

The business daily subsequently posted documents online showing the money flow into Najib's accounts to support its report.

Najib has denied taking funds for personal gain, but as finance minister and chairman of 1MDB's advisory board, he was under scrutiny over the government-owned firm's opaque dealings and RM42 billion debts incurred in just six years of operations.

A special task force comprising the Attorney-General's Chambers, police, anti-corruption authorities and Bank Negara is now probing into WSJ's claim.

The task force has frozen six accounts as part of its probe and seized documents related to 17 bank accounts. It has also raided the offices of local companies alleged to be part of the money transfers.

On Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin expressed support for the task force, calling all parties to have confidence in the investigative panel. – The Malaysian Insider