(July 8): Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail today dismissed reports claiming that the special task force froze three bank accounts belonging to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In a statement released this evening, the A-G clarified that the freeze orders issued on July 6 did not involve any accounts allegedly held by the prime minister.

He was commenting on news reports yesterday which stated that three of the six bank accounts the taskforce had frozen, belonged to Najib.

Yesterday, the task force, which was established to investigate the alleged transfer of billions of ringgit into the prime minister's accounts, had said in a statement that six bank accounts connected to the allegations had been frozen.

Apart from freezing the bank accounts, the task force also seized documents linked to 17 bank accounts at two banks for further investigation.

The task force said 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 business daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and whistleblower site Sarawak Report which revealed that investigations into 1MDB had allegedly uncovered billions of ringgit pumped into Najib's personal accounts.

WSJ had reported that US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) was 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, WSJ had said.

Najib had, so far, 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