(Aug 6): Datuk A. Kadir Jasin today posed six unanswered questions over the US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's personal bank accounts which anti-graft authorities had said was a political donation.

Writing in his blog, the veteran newsman asked if it was legal for Najib to "secretly accept" the donation, which the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had said, came from the Middle East but did not name the source.

He wanted to know the identity of the "generous donor", adding that some had speculated the person to be a wealthy Arab royal or a hugely successful "camel trader".

"There could be more than one and not necessarily an Arab or a Muslim," he wrote on his blog today.

The former New Straits Times Group editor-in-chief also asked what did Najib used the money for, and whether the "mind-boggling" amount was used for Umno and Barisan Nasional's campaigning in the 2013 general election.

"If the RM2.6 billion was distributed evenly among the 222 parliamentary seats, each should have received RM11.72 million.

"Has all the RM2.6 billion been spent or has part of it been siphoned off and kept somewhere in one of the many offshore financial centres?” he asked.

On Monday, MACC said the money, which was channelled into Najib's personal bank accounts, came from donors and not from state strategic investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

The anti-graft agency also confirmed that the donor was from the Middle East but did not elaborate further. Last night, MACC said it would ask Najib to provide an explanation over the donation.

Allegations of the money going to Najib's personal accounts were first made in a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on July 2, citing documents from Malaysian investigators.

WSJ said the source of the funds were unknown, but came through 1MDB-linked entities in various tranches, the largest of which – US$681 million – was channelled to Najib's accounts in March 2013, ahead of the general election in May that year.

Najib's supporters in Umno, including a few ministers, had said that there was nothing wrong with money put in his personal accounts as he had the capacity to be a trustee for Umno, of which he is president. – The Malaysian Insider