KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — The police have questioned 12 people linked to the audio clips the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) released of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and others allegedly conspiring to cover up the 1MDB scandal.
Among those interviewed were Umno’s Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim, Tan Sri Shukry Mohd Salleh and Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazarudding.
The investigations are being conducted under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code that covers the abetment of crimes.
“We have recorded statements from 12 witnesses we identified in the audio clips under Section 112 of the Penal Code.
“The statements from Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor will be taken in the near future,” Datuk Roze Shaari, deputy director of Intelligence/Operations in the Criminal Investigation Department, said in a statement.
“We urge the public not to spread fake news on these matters and trust the police to do their work,” he added.
On January 8, the MACC released nine audio recordings to the public that implicated Najib, former MACC chief Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad, Najib’s wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed Zayed Al-Nahyan and sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development Company's chief executive officer Khaldoon Khalifa Al-Mubarak.
MACC chief Latheefa Koya had said the commission got the clips anonymously, calling the purported leaked conversations between Dzulkifli and Najib as showing a conspiracy of the highest level in the government, which was at under Barisan Nasional control.
The recordings — nine sets of audio clips of about 45 minutes in total duration — contained phone conversations involving seven individuals including Najib, with a total of 13 names mentioned.
The first audio clip featured a conversation purportedly between Najib and Dzulkifli who was at that time a deputy public prosecutor in the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
The conversation seemed to be about an investigation paper in January 2016, which Latheefa said likely concerned SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.
