BAGAN SERAI, June 28 — The authorities decision to freeze Umno’s bank accounts will hamper the party’s work in servicing its constituencies, party presidential candidate Khairy Jamaluddin said today.
Khairy also said he received information that the bank accounts of Umno’s headquarters, as well as those of the Johor, Penang and Selangor chapters had been frozen.
“We need funds to provide the service to our constituencies and also to carry out other work in the party. The freeze on the bank accounts will affect the party administration,” he told reporters.
Khairy said that defending the party’s accounts and assets will be his priority if he wins the Umno election this weekend.
“The first thing I will do is to get legal advice, meet the relevant authorities as well as the prime minister... If the accounts were frozen for investigations, then it’s okay. I hope it is not a move of deregister Umno.
“No matter what the investigations could be, they do not involve Umno. If there are any donations from the sources, which are being investigated, to Umno, we hope they are detailed as it will affect the party as whole,” he said.
“Maybe, we might have received some donations from the source who are being investigated for certain cases such as 1MDB, but we don’t want that to affect the status of the party and its accounts,” added Khairy.
Khairy, who is also Rembau MP, said the freeze on the party’s bank accounts will not affect the party’s upcoming election — slated for June 30 — as preparations had already been made.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed that Umno’s bank accounts were frozen in its investigations on state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
It was earlier claimed by Umno members that some of the monies seized from premises linked to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak were party election funds.
