(July 8): Two out of six bank accounts frozen by a special task force belong to SRC International Sdn Bhd and Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd, sources say, amid investigations into the alleged transfer of billions of ringgit into Datuk Seri Najib Razak's personal accounts.
The revelation comes a day after The Malaysian Insider reported that sources have revealed three of the frozen bank accounts belong to Najib.
SRC International and Ihsan Perdana, along with Gandingan Mentari, allegedly funnelled some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) to Najib's personal accounts in AmBank Private Banking in Malaysia, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported last Thursday.
Ihsan Perdana undertakes corporate social responsibility programmes for 1Malaysia Development Bhd's (1MDB) charitable foundations, while SRC International was formerly a subsidiary of 1MDB until it was "de-merged" in 2012.
A task force consisting of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, police and Bank Negara Malaysia raided Ihsan Perdana, SRC International and Gandingan Mentari last Friday. The task force is now going through the documents taken from their premises.
The order to freeze the six accounts was issued on Monday, the task force said.
It also seized documents linked to 17 bank accounts at two banks for further investigation.
It added that the freeze and seizures were related to the non-compliance of Bank Negara rules by the said banks.
The authorities' action was believed to be related to reports by the WSJ and whistleblower site Sarawak Report.
The WSJ cited documents that allegedly show some US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) being moved among government agencies, banks and entities linked to 1MDB and finally ending up in the prime minister's personal accounts in five separate deposits.
Najib refuted the allegations and said it was a political ploy engineered by his opponents, including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The New York-based publication insisted that their investigation was based on solid documentation. – The Malaysian Insider