(Aug 17): Tan Sri Shahrir Samad, who was accused by whistle-blower site Sarawak Report of receiving RM1 million from Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said accepting funds from his party president was normal.

"Who else should I ask for financial aid for expenses in running my division, if not from my own party president," he was quoted as saying by the BNBBC.my portal.

The Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) chairman said he was willing to cooperate and explain to investigators how the money was used, if requested to do so.

He added that aid from the party president to any division was normal, especially for divisions suffering from lack of funds.

On Saturday, Sarawak Report said that over US$650 million (RM2 billion) was transferred from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s AmPrivate Bank account in Kuala Lumpur to an account in Singapore after the general election.

The whistle-blower site also alleged that the money was deposited into an account in the name of Tanore Finance Corporation (BVI) at Falcon Bank in Singapore on the day the prime minister’s AmPrivate Bank account was closed, August 30, 2013.

Sarawak Report said this was the same company account which had originally transferred US$681 million into Najib’s AmPrivate Bank account, earlier in March of the same year.

Sarawak Report also said that Najib had distributed funds from his private accounts to a few Umno leaders, who are now proving to be some of the prime minister's strongest defenders in the present crisis.

The London-based site said Shahrir received had RM1 million after the 13th general election, Umno information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan allegedly received RM2 million while Puteri Umno chief Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin got RM50,000. – The Malaysian Insider