KUALA LUMPUR (March 1): The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has clarified that it is the police that are investigating former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz's husband Datuk Tawfiq Ayman for purported money laundering of funds belonging to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
The task of the anti-graft body, meanwhile, is to ensure the repatriation of 1MDB funds in the Singapore bank account of Datuk Tawfiq Ayman back to the country, said chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.
“For the 1MDB investigation, a task force was formed, comprising various government agencies, including the MACC and PDRM (Royal Malaysia Police).
“In Tawfiq's case, the task given to the MACC is to repatriate [the] amount of money from Singapore. That was what we announced previously,” he said.
Azam said the PDRM is tasked with investigating Zeti and her husband for alleged 1MDB-linked money laundering under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).
“The police are investigating [the case] under AMLA, and their investigation is still ongoing. The police will send the investigation paper to the Attorney General's Chambers when the investigation is completed.
Last November, the MACC revealed that some US$15.4 million of 1MDB-linked funds that it had recovered from Singapore was held by a company partly owned by Tawfiq.
Since then, Zeti — the central bank governor from May 2000 to April 2016 — and her husband have come under the spotlight as more and more quarters question the extent of their roles in the global financial scandal.
The Edge Malaysia revealed in March last year, citing documents and correspondence it sighted, that the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force in 2015 and 2016 shared information with BNM about suspicious transactions involving millions of dollars that went into a bank account in Singapore held by a company owned by Zeti’s husband.