(July 13): Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has come to the defence of Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor amid criticism over reports that RM2 million was deposited into her bank account, saying that it should not be surprising for the prime minister’s wife to have such amount of money.

In the Sin Chew Daily report yesterday, he said the amount of money deposited in the bank has computerised records that can be traced and thus it is transparent, legal and not an abuse of power.

“If there was only RM5,000 in the account, that is surprising,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

Nazri, who was in Kuala Kangsar, Perak told the Chinese daily that it should not come as a surprise because Rosmah is involved in charitable activities to assist the needy, and made donations in her capacity as the prime minister’s wife.

“People keep emphasising on so-called transparency. This is transparent, I hope people do not get confused that whenever there is transparency, they consider it as corrupt.” he said.

It had been reported on July 10 that a total of RM2 million had been banked into an account at Affin Bank Berhad belonging to Rosmah, through 8 deposits within a period of two and a half months earlier this year.

A special task force is currently investigating the bank account.

Rosmah, in a statement released by her lawyers Messrs Noorhajran Mohd Noor, had recently charged that the report linking her bank account to money related to 1MDB was "malicious, baseless and unsubstantiated".

Saying there was a breach of the bank's function in protecting customers' privacy under the Financial Service Act 2013, her lawyers urged Bank Negara Malaysia to immediately conduct a probe into the matter. - The Malaysian Insider