KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 — PKR Youth today questioned if Umno had the same integrity as celebrities Leonardo DiCaprio and Miranda Kerr who returned gifts that were allegedly bought with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) funds.
Akmal Nasrullah Nasir highlighted acting Umno president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan’s inconsistency in the 1MDB scandal, pointing out that the party previously claimed the 1MDB funds had already been spent, whereas now Mohamad was claiming that Umno could not return any such funds since their accounts were frozen.
“They have cooperated with the Justice Department to provide statements, and even chose a braver route to prove their innocence by taking early action,” Akmal said in a statement, referring to DiCaprio and Kerr.
“Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan might have leadership qualities, but by taking the safe route, Umno will remain unchanged.”
US actor DiCaprio, star of The Wolf of Wall Street that was allegedly financed with 1MDB money, reportedly turned over to American investigators an Oscar won by Marlon Brando that was gifted to him by the movie producers, Red Granite, in 2017.
Australian model and actress Kerr also reportedly handed over to US authorities in 2017 jewellery worth about US$8 million (RM33.2 million) that Malaysian fugitive businessman Jho Low had allegedly given her.
On June 21, Mohamad said that Umno will present its arguments in court on why the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has no right to seize the money transferred to several Umno divisions.
The commission had announced that it had filed civil forfeiture lawsuits against 41 individuals and entities, including political parties like Umno and MCA, as well as several corporations and Islamic non-governmental organisations whom it claimed to have received a total of RM270 million wrongly transferred into their accounts by ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak from funds belonging to 1MDB.
