KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — The federal Cabinet must call for an emergency meeting and suspend Datuk Seri Najib Razak from all his duties to make way for an investigation into a report claiming billions of ringgit had been deposited into the prime minister’s personal accounts, DAP’s Tony Pua said today.
Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said Cabinet members as well as the entire ruling Barisan Nasional coalition leadership risk severe public backlash should they fail to act on the damning allegation, highlighted by US-based Wall Street Journal earlier today.
“The Cabinet must hold an emergency meeting to discuss this latest development... they must insist that the PM take leave from his position until the matter can be fully investigated,” Pua, who is also the party’s national publicity chief, told reporters here.
“And this is a very gentle call as in other countries the prime minister would have to resign,” he added.
In its report today, the WSJ, citing documents from Malaysian investigators currently scrutinising the troubled 1MDB’s financials, claimed that the money trail shows that some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) were moved between government agencies, banks and companies before it ended up in Najib’s accounts.
These documents, the international business paper claimed, include bank transfer forms and flowcharts put together by investigators to shed light on 1MDB’s cash flow. The paper said this is the first time a direct connection to Najib has been established in the probe on 1MDB.
WSJ, which claimed to have viewed the documents, said investigators have discovered that there were five separate deposits from two sources made so far into Najib’s accounts.
Pua said the authorities, already suffering from a public confidence deficit, will now have to demonstrate their impartiality by initiating immediate investigations on the allegation.
“They will have to demonstrate their independence, even the BN leaders. Take action now or sink with Najib,” he said.
In WSJ’s report today, a Malaysian government spokesman was quoted telling the paper that Najib has never taken 1MDB funds for personal use.
1MDB has also dismissed the report as inaccurate, saying it was surprised that
unverified documents are still being used as a basis to create new unsubstantiated allegations.
1MDB is currently under probe for alleged impropriety by a number of agencies, including the Auditor-General’s (A-G) Department, the police and Bank Negara Malaysia.
An interim report on the A-G’s probe will be submitted next Thursday to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.
