KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 — The Malaysian Institute of Translation and Books (ITBM), which is said to be among the entities to have received money from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), explained that the money it received was for book publishing and sales, without being aware of the original source of the money.
ITBM, in a statement yesterday, said the services were implemented through the request of the customers, namely, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Prime Minister’s Department at that time, and the payments received were normal transactions following the procedures which were the practices to obtain products and services offered by ITBM.
“Chronologically, in 2011, ITBM had received requests to obtain publication and book sales services with RM365,000 and RM610,000 channelled by the customers.
“As a government agency which also carries out book publications, ITBM had received and carried out the clients’ request following the work procedures and the normal payments practised by ITBM, and had conducted the publication works as agreed upon in the stipulated time,” said ITBM.
According to the statement, the services agreed upon through the deals were also implemented via the buyback method whereby the books published were resupplied to the customers for direct sales and distributions to the public.
“The same method was also applied to customers who secured book publications and sales services from ITBM,” said the statement.
The statement also said, ITBM had also been called and given statements on the matter to the authorities for the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) in July and August 2018 and July this year.
“However, there was no feedback or further action. Until today, ITBM has yet to receive any official notice on the matter from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and are ready to give co-operation for further explanations, if required,” said ITBM.
MACC yesterday issued a list of 80 individuals who received RM420 million purportedly from 1MDB.
MACC Chief Commissioner Latheefa Koya said those who received compounds under Section 92(1) Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing Act 2001 (AMLATFA) were given two weeks to return the money. — Bernama
