KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — Putrajaya said today that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has failed to seek cooperation from it nor 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in its latest civil lawsuits against several assets.
In a statement today, the press secretary of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that Putrajaya is also concerned with “unnecessary and gratuitous naming of certain matters and individuals”, accusing the move of going beyond seizing assets.
“The Malaysian government will fully cooperate with any lawful investigation of Malaysian companies or citizens in accordance with international protocols,” Datuk Seri Tengku Sariffuddin said.
“So we are concerned that again the DoJ has failed to seek such cooperation from the Malaysian government or 1MDB, the Malaysian company concerned.”
“We are also concerned by the unnecessary and gratuitous naming of certain matters and individuals that are only relevant to domestic political manipulation and interference. This suggests a motivation that goes beyond the objective of seizing assets,” he added.
He reiterated that there was no crime found in investigations by local authorities.
“The judicial process is not served by headline seeking. Malaysia stands firm in its support of transparency and good governance. That includes ensuring that accusations have a basis in fact, rather than smears briefed by political opponents,” he said.
The DoJ is currently seeking to recover US$540 million (RM2.3 billion) in assets — including artworks, jewellery and film rights — that it says were purchased with misappropriated funds.
