(July 10): The attorney-general (A-G) has been urged to reveal the details of the investigation by a special government task force looking into the allegations against the prime minister in order to inspire the people's confidence in the probe.
DAP legal head Gobind Singh Deo said that although the special task force was announced by A-G Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, there were hardly any details about its scope and what it was investigating.
"Malaysians have a right to know what possible offences the police are looking at in this investigation and who, if any so far, the prime suspects are," Najib said in a statement today.
"An announcement to this effect would also make it possible for people with information to come forward to assist investigations."
The special task force was announced following a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) alleging that US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) was moved among government agencies, banks and entities linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) before finally ending up in the prime minister's personal accounts in five separate deposits.
Besides Gani, the task force includes Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chairman Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed and Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
So far, the task force has frozen six bank accounts on Monday as part of investigations into the WSJ's report but said that these did not belong to the prime minister.
"Regarding the freeze orders issued on July 6, 2015, against six bank accounts, no bank accounts at AmBank Islamic held by the prime minister on that date were frozen because the bank accounts had already been closed on August 30, 2013, and March 9, 2015, respectively," the task force said.
Najib has denied taking money for personal gain, but has not commented directly on the fund transfers to his accounts. Bank Negara and AmBank have also not responded to the allegations.
Gobind said today that the case generated much interest in and out of the country and it was important for the task force to assure the public that the probe was not merely a formality.
"It has been announced that various accounts have been frozen whilst others are being looked at as well, but there are no details from the A-G as to whose accounts these are or why they have been frozen.
"We also need to know if there is any cause for concern over the use and whereabouts of funds involved in this case, if any and if so, what the police plan to do about it in the meanwhile," he added.
The investigations should have clarity in terms of its direction and the steps to be taken to deal with the case to ensure there was no conflict of interest on the part of those on the task force that will taint the probe.
"A silent probe does not inspire confidence. It also keeps people guessing and that makes an already difficult situation open to further suspicion.
"This surely cannot be what the A-G has in mind nor intends to achieve given the highly controversial nature of the problem at hand.
"He should therefore do all that he can in order to build public confidence in the task force and he should start by telling us exactly who and what is the focus of investigations of the task force," the DAP lawmaker said. – The Malaysian Insider