(August 3): What is the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) going to do about the alleged RM2.6 billion in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's accounts, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad asked today.

Writing on his blog, the former prime minister also said that if Umno had used that amount of money for election campaigning, it was a clear breach of election rules that place limits on the expenses of each election candidate.

"The question I wish to ask is whether the Inland Revenue Board has acted on the RM2.6 billion that was in Datuk Seri Najib's personal account," Dr Mahathir said.

His blog post today comes after Barisan Nasional spokesmen have said that the Umno constitution allows the party president to hold accounts in trust. By convention, the president of Umno is also Malaysia's prime minister.

These explanations have come about following The Wall Street Journal's report last month that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) was transferred to Najib's accounts at AmBank in Kuala Lumpur, with the largest sum of US$681 million deposited in March 2013, ahead of the general elections in May that year.

The money allegedly came from companies linked to state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Najib, who is finance minister and chairman of 1MDB's advisory board, has denied taking 1MDB funds for personal use but has not directly commented on the fund transfers.

Dr Mahathir today said that while he was Umno president, the party "did not use a lot of funds" for elections, especially in terms of allocation from the headquarters.

Still, Barisan Nasional (BN) never failed to win a two-third majority in Parliament, the longest serving prime minister said.

"So if now, Umno needs RM2.6 billion for an election, it is a breach election rules and laws.

"The expense account of each election candidate has to be declared to the authorities, and it would be an offence to breach a certain amount," he wrote.

Last Thursday, Special Affairs Department adviser Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz, said the money that had allegedly gone to Najib's accounts was the private affair of the individual and need not be declared to the public.

The adviser of Putrajaya's propaganda unit had said it was just like money that people put into their own back accounts.

This followed a leaked video showing former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin saying that Najib had admitted having the money in his personal accounts.

No one from the ruling BN coalition has denied the video's contents.

Muhyiddin, who had openly questioned Najib's handling of 1MDB's RM42 billion debts, was dropped a Cabinet reshuffle last Tuesday.

Recently, BN strategic communications director Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said that the Umno constitution allowed the party president to hold an account in trust for the party under his own name.

Najib's accounts at AmBank involved in the alleged fund transfers have since been closed. – The Malaysian Insider