KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 ― Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak did not influence the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) investigations into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali has said.
The Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC) portal quoted the AG as saying that the investigations into the state investment firm would be conducted professionally and legally.
“We are free (from influence), we will act in accordance with the law,” Apandi reportedly said.
He added that the AGC was currently examining the findings of Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) probe into 1MDB.
“We are still studying the papers. I have no comment. The papers was handed to us late in the evening or before 5pm on the same day Bank Negara Governor (Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz) had a press conference,” Apandi said.
Last Thursday, Zeti told a press conference that BNM's had concluded its probe on the state investment firm and that its findings have been submitted to the AGC.
Zeti also noted that the bank's findings are the culmination of several years’ worth of prior informal monitoring of 1MDB's investment activities, which she said has required BNM to follow closely as the firm was highly geared.
The BNM chief stressed, however, that the bank cannot publicly discuss the contents of the report submitted to the AG, though she did say it had to do with information on the relevant accounts shared by local banks and the central bank's international counterparts.
In early June, Bank Negara announced that it had launched a formal inquiry on 1MDB's activities to establish if there were any contraventions to the country's financial rules and regulations.
The investigation included taking statements from individuals involved in the governance process and obtaining information from other relevant domestic and foreign parties.
Apandi replaced Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail as Attorney-General last month, after the latter was removed for health reasons.
