KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Federal police today confirmed that they are waiting for clearance from Singapore to enter the island state and continue its 1MDB-related investigation into Datuk Tawfiq Ayman.
Free Malaysia Today (FMT) quoted Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) deputy director Datuk Mohd Kamarudin Md Din as saying police are unable to give an estimate of when they would be able to enter Singapore, as it depended on the authorities there.
“We will go as soon as they allow us to cross the border,” he reportedly said, adding that the surge in Covid-19 cases in both countries, due to the Omicron variant, had disrupted the investigation process.
Last March, it was reported that Tawfiq, the husband of former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, was being investigated under Section (4)(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
It has been alleged that Iron Rhapsody Ltd, a company supposedly owned by Tawfiq and his son, received RM66 million through five different transactions from companies and bank accounts held by Low Taek Jho — more commonly known as Jho Low.
On Tuesday, Malaysiakini reported de facto Deputy Law Minister Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsuddin saying that the investigation has been halted as police were unable to enter Singapore, after receiving instructions from the Attorney General’s Chambers (AGC) to take further investigative action in the island nation.
Tawfiq was also implied to have partaken in corrupt activities, by former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner, during the US corruption trial of Malaysian former banker Roger Ng.
