KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) today accused Wall Street Journal (WSJ) of failing to uphold basic journalistic standards after the international business newspaper ran yet another allegation against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the political donation controversy.
In a brief statement, the state-owned investment firm said WSJ has insisted on recycling old allegations from anonymous sources who “may or may not exist”, despite repeated denials on the matter from the authorities in Malaysia.
The firm pointed out that it has in the past insisted that it has never channelled any of its funds into Najib’s private accounts, and that this has also been confirmed by authorities like the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Attorney-General.
“Despite this, the Wall Street Journal continues to repeat the same disproven allegations,” the firm said.
“However, not once has the publication offered any conclusive evidence to support its claims, with the only justification for their continued attacks being information that they claim to have obtained from unnamed and anonymous sources.
“This reliance on anonymous sources, who may or may not exist, betrays a lack of basic journalistic standards on the part of the Wall Street Journal and the fact that the publication has lost all semblance of balanced reporting,” it added.
In its latest article today, WSJ alleged that more than US$1 billion from 1MDB had been deposited into Najib’s accounts, instead of the previous US$681 million (RM2.6 billion).
In January, AG Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali cleared Najib of wrongdoing over the controversy, saying the US$681 million was a personal gift from the Saudi royal family.
