KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Federal Criminal Investigations Department (CID) director Commissioner Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd fully intends to regain his A$320,000 (RM970,000) seized by Australian police, said Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun.
However, the Inspector-General of Police said it was Wan Ahmad’s prerogative to decide if he will repatriate the funds confiscated in Australia on suspicion of money laundering.
“If you ask him yourself, he would definitely want it back since it’s his, after all.
“I was made aware (Wan Ahmad) was of the opinion that remittance would incur a higher fee based on the currency exchange rate,” he said.
He said Wan Ahmad Najmuddin has not applied to repatriate the funds and was still considering his options.
Mohamad Fuzi also insisted that there was nothing suspicious about the sum, saying that it was from the proceeds of a RM700,000 property sale in Shah Alam, Selangor by Wan Ahmad.
“This fund was then entrusted to a very close friend to make the cash transfers into the said bank account in Australia.
“He was able to provide justification for the need to acquire an overseas account, for the sole purpose of funding his children’s master’s degree course there,” he said.
The IGP declined further comment as the case is now the subject of a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) investigation.
MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Azam Baki reportedly said yesterday the probe was initiated following a complaint by a whistleblower.
Australian media previously reported that the country’s federal police seized the sum held in a Commonwealth Bank “Goal Saver” bank account after a “flurry of suspicious cash deposits”, all under the A$10,000 limit that would have triggered mandatory reporting under the country’s laws against money laundering.
