KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Opposition lawmaker Ramkarpal Singh Deo questioned today if the special task force will soon raid Arab-Malaysian Bank (AmBank) as part of its investigations into the US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) money trail from state-owned 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) into personal bank accounts purportedly owned by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The DAP MP for Bukit Gelugor also chided the task force for taking four days before mounting an operation on 1MDB’s office at Menara IMC here today when the law empowered it to act speedily.

“In such serious circumstances, it is shocking as to why it took investigators at least four (4) days to raid the premises of 1MDB,” he said in a statement.

“It is also necessary to enquire as to whether the premises of AmBank will be subjected to a similar raid since the money trail, according to WSJ, ended in an account there,” he added.

Earlier today, the task force – made of up the Attorney-General’s (A-G) Chambers, Bank Negara Malaysia, the police and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) – raided 1MDB’s office in Kuala Lumpur, with the state-owned company confirming that documents have been confiscated by investigators.

The task force was set up following an exposé last Friday by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) claiming that documents sourced from Malaysian investigators looking into 1MDB’s financials showed a US$700 million money trail allegedly moved between government agencies, banks and companies before it ended up in Najib’s accounts.

Ramkarpal today stressed that to date, Najib has not expressly denied the existence of his alleged account in AmBank nor did he expressly deny that the funds were deposited in the said account.

The opposition man added that today’s raid lends credence to WSJ’s allegations that there is at the least reasonable cause to suspect that such an offence or offences had been committed.

“In the circumstances, it is shocking that, at least, a statement has not been recorded by the police from the Prime Minister having regard to the fact that countless police reports have been lodged pertaining to this issue.

“A simple statement to the police by the Prime Minister that either he did not hold such account at AmBank or if he did, no such funds were deposited therein, would suffice to refute the said allegation of WSJ,” Ramkarpal said.

Ramkarpal also took a swipe at Inspector-General of police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, who he claimed spared no expense – including the threat of arrest – to clamp down on opposition leaders for offences such as taking part in illegal assemblies.

Ramkarpal said the IGP should employ the same sense of urgency in dealing with the 1MDB debacle, and summon Najib to have the latter’s statement recorded at the nearest police station.