The 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) logo is seen on a billboard at the funds flagship Tun Razak Exchange under-development site in Kuala Lumpur on July 3, 2015. (MANAN VATSYAYANA / AFP)

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s anti-corruption chief who investigated the 1MDB fraud said on Friday that she had resigned, the second such exit in the last few days after a party that was defeated in the 2018 general election came back to power.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who unexpectedly resigned last month after his coalition collapsed, has accused the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) of orchestrating a return to power so that its officials escape conviction in the alleged theft of billions of dollars from state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has accused the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) of orchestrating a return to power so that its officials escape conviction in the alleged theft of billions of dollars from state fund 1MDB

The party denies the charges.

READ MORE: Muhyiddin Yassin sworn in as M'sia PM as Mahathir forced out

Latheefa Koya of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said there was no pressure on her to resign and that new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is backed by UMNO, understood her decision to put in her papers. She said she wanted to return to her practice as a human rights advocate.

“I also briefed the prime minister about our ongoing actions and efforts for the recovery of the stolen 1MDB monies from abroad,” Latheefa said in a statement. “He was fully supportive of these actions.”

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In an interview on Wednesday, Najib said the fall of the government that ousted him meant he now expected an atmosphere more conducive to a fair hearing.

Malaysia’s attorney general Tommy Thomas, who had brought the corruption charges against Najib and other members of the former UMNO administration, quit last week.

In January, Latheefa revealed audio clips at a news conference that she called proof of a high-level criminal conspiracy to cover up wrongdoing in the 1MDB case for which former Prime Minister Najib Razak is facing trial.

US 'delays returning more 1MDB funds'

The US Department of Justice has delayed the return to Malaysia of another US$240 million of recovered money allegedly stolen from the 1MDB sovereign fund, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday, with one citing political uncertainty.

The US Department of Justice says over US$4.5 billion was looted from the fund under UMNO prime minister Najib Razak.

The US Department of Justice has delayed the return to Malaysia of another US$240 million of recovered money allegedly stolen from the 1MDB sovereign fund, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said

The DOJ had initially been scheduled to return the next payment of recovered funds to Malaysia on Feb 19, but there were technical reasons the transfer did not happen, the two sources said.

The total amount was around 1 billion ringgit (US$240 million), one source said.

But once Mahathir resigned, it was decided to hold the payment due to uncertainty over what would happen next, one source said. The sources did not want to identified as they were not authorized to speak to media.

A DOJ spokesman declined to comment.

Malaysia’s finance ministry redirected questions to the attorney general’s chambers, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The sources said they were not aware of DOJ’s next steps.

The funds returned go into a special fund at Malaysia’s finance ministry and are meant to be used to pay 1MDB’s bondholders.

American and Malaysian investigators have said Najib received about US$1 billion of the stolen funds 1MDB funds. He has pleaded not guilty and says he was misled by Malaysian financier Jho Low and other 1MDB officials.

Muhyiddin has not talked about the 1MDB cases but has vowed to fight graft.