Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Audit Department has no power to investigate the personal bank accounts of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“Now that there is already an investigation by the special taskforce, they are better equipped to do that,” Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang (pic) told reporters at the parliament lobby yesterday. “They (special taskforce) have the power to look into people’s accounts.”

He added that unlike the special taskforce that has Bank Negara Malaysia  (BNM)  on its team, the auditor-general alone does not have power to do so.

“I do not have the power to look into people’s accounts,” said Ambrin, when asked if he would investigate the latest revelation by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that involves Najib.

To recap, a special task force was formed to probe allegations that millions of dollars were channelled into Najib’s bank accounts. The task force comprises investigators from the Attorney-General’s (AG) Chambers, BNM, the Royal Malaysian Police Force and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Last Thursday, the WSJ alleged that up to US$700 million (RM2.65 billion) was transferred from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)  into Najib’s personal accounts with AmPrivate Bank, just before the 13th general election (GE13).

Najib, however, responded that he had never taken any funds from 1MDB for personal gain and pinned the blame for the latest reports on former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has in recent months called for Najib’s resignation.

The documents, which the WSJ had said were sourced from a “Malaysian government investigation,” included a remittance application form, a cash deposit authorisation letter and charts outlining the flow of money. In those forms, details of payment were listed as fund transfers for “CSR programmes”.

 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 10, 2015.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share