KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 — Citing national security, the police said today they are sparing no effort in the search of the so-called government sources that leaked confidential documents cited in claims by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) of some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) allegedly misappropriated into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts.

Inspector-general of police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said they are looking at all possible areas where the leak could have happened — including among members of the special task force set up to investigate allegations that the funds were funnelled through government agencies, especially debt-laden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

“The objective of the Royal Malaysia Police investigation is to identify those who have leaked the material, and determine whether the documents are genuine or have been doctored — as in the case of Xavier Justo, who is being investigated by Thai authorities for blackmail and extortion,” he said in a statement this morning.

“These criminal acts are very serious and raise national security implications. The Royal Malaysia Police have not eliminated the possibility of a conspiracy to subvert Malaysia’s democratic process and topple the prime minister,” Khalid added.

Last week, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail ordered a full investigation to be carried out on the leak of classified documents to the WSJ, warning that the culprits will face the full brunt of the law.

Khalid today laid out a long list of legal provisions that the mole could have broken, including sections 133, 248, 249 and 250 of the Financial Services Act, sections 145 of the Islamic Financial Services Act, the Official Secrets Act and sections 3, 4, 7A, 7B, 8, 11 and 14 of the Penal Code for false and fabricated evidence and sections 499 and 502 of the same code for criminal defamation.

Khalid added that the act of leaking the documents “could constitute economic sabotage against Malaysia”.

On July 4, Gani announced that a special task force comprising his office, Bank Negara Malaysia, the police and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, had started investigations into the allegations made by WSJ and that raids had already been carried out on three companies implicated in the report.

The WSJ claimed in a July 3 report that documents, sourced from Malaysian investigators scrutinising 1MDB’s financials, allegedly showed a money trail linking US$700 million to Najib’s accounts.

The prime minister has since denied taking funds from 1MDB for “personal gain” and his lawyers have since asked the WSJ to state if the newspaper is accusing the prime minister of misappropriating funds.

The story came not too long after Justo was arrested in Thailand last month and charged with attempted blackmail and extortion against PetroSaudi International.

He was allegedly the source of leaked documents on PetroSaudi’s US$1.2 billion joint venture with 1MDB that fell through in 2009.

Justo’s arrest has led Malaysian authorities to conclude as false the allegations against 1MDB that were based on documents he allegedly leaked.

Hundreds of millions of dollars were allegedly siphoned out from the abortive 1MDB-PetroSaudi deal in one claim, while another purported that the funds were used to help a Malaysian tycoon purchase a local bank.