Friday 29 Mar 2024
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on July 4, 2018

PUTRAJAYA: Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s stepson Riza Aziz, who left the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters after being grilled for some nine hours, is set to return at 2pm today for further questioning.

Riza arrived at 1.30pm yesterday after being summoned by the agency and only left at about 10.30pm.

Riza made headlines over the last few years after a production company that he co-founded, Red Granite Pictures Inc, was alleged to have produced films using monies from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

In March this year, Red Granite agreed to pay US$60 million to the US Justice Department to settle claims after it financed The Wolf of Wall Street movie using funds from the troubled state investment firm.

Riza is also known as a friend of Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), who is central to the 1MDB scandal with money trails linking the latter with assets — including pricey paintings, a superyacht and several real estate assets — acquired using monies alleged siphoned from 1MDB.

Meanwhile, some 50 supporters of Najib, led by former finance ministry strategic communications director Datuk Lokman Noor Adam, gathered for a protest outside the MACC headquarters here last night to protest against Najib’s arrest.

While chanting “long live Najib” and “arrest Mahathir”, the crowd lit candles as a sign of solidarity with the former prime minister, currently held in the MACC’s lock-up.

He was expected to spend the night there before charges are pressed against him today in relation to SRC International Sdn Bhd, formerly a unit of scandal-ridden 1MDB.

“There is no reason for Najib not to cooperate with the MACC in its investigations. Is there a need for the MACC to put Najib in a cell overnight before pressing charges tomorrow (today)?” said Lokman, also an Umno supreme council member.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Bar Council president George Varughese has questioned the legality of Najib’s arrest by the special 1MDB task force, given that it was the latter that announced the arrest yesterday and not the MACC or the police.

In a statement, Varughese said only the MACC and the police have the power to arrest Najib, while the task force has no legal standing to do so. He added that the task force is in no position to decide whether to charge Najib.

The task force was formed to investigate 1MDB, and it reports to the government. It comprises MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull, former MACC commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, former attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and police special branch chief Datuk Abdul Hamid Bador.

 

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