Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (center) arrives at Anti-Corruption Agency for questioning in Putrajaya, Malaysia, May 22, 2018. He was summoned to meet with investigators nearly two weeks after the defeat of his long-ruling coalition in national elections. (VINCENT THIAN / PHOTO)
PUTRAJAYA/KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Former Malaysian Prime Minister
Najib Razak was being questioned Tuesday by anti-corruption police about a graft
scandal that could lead to criminal charges against him.
He was summoned nearly two weeks after the defeat of his long-ruling coalition in national elections, a loss partly due to public anger over alleged corruption at the 1MDB state investment fund that Najib set up. US investigators say Najib's associates stole and laundered US$4.5 billion from the fund, some of which landed in Najib's bank account.
Najib's questioning at the anti-graft agency was specifically over why US$10.6 million was transferred into his bank account from SRC International, a unit of 1MDB, using multiple intermediary companies
Swarmed by reporters, Najib looked calm and
smiled as he was escorted into the agency's building.
Najib has denied
any wrongdoing since the scandal erupted in 2015. He sacked critics in his
government, including a deputy prime minister and the attorney-general, and
muzzled the media to try to survive the fallout.
Najib and his wife have
been barred from leaving the country after the new government reopened an
investigation into the case. Police have raided his home and other properties
linked to him, seizing hundreds of expensive designer handbags and luggage
stuffed with cash, jewelry and other valuables.
READ MORE: Najib complains about police harassment in house search
A government official has
said Najib could possibly be detained after giving his statement to Malaysia's
Anti-Corruption Commission. Abdul Kadir Jasin, a spokesman for a new government
advisory council, said over the weekend that an investigation had already been
conducted but was suppressed by Najib while he was in power.
Najib's
questioning at the anti-graft agency was specifically over why 42 million
ringgit (US$10.6 million) was transferred into his bank account from SRC
International, a unit of 1MDB, using multiple intermediary companies.
The
money was in addition to about US$700 million that US investigators said ended
in Najib's bank account.
A new attorney general in 2016 cleared Najib of
wrongdoing, saying a particular transfer of US$681 million was a political
donation from the Saudi royal family and that most of it was
returned.
But new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said investigations
showed the wrongdoing at 1MDB were more serious than expected.
Mahathir
said former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail had told him he was preparing to
press charges against Najib when he was abruptly sacked in
2015.
Mahathir, who was premier for 22 years until 2003 and was spurred
out of retirement by the 1MDB scandal, has vowed there will be "no deal" for
Najib and he will face the consequences if found guilty of
wrongdoing.
The current attorney general has been put on leave and Abdul
Gani was appointed as a member of a new task force investigating the state
fund.
The US Justice Department said in a statement that it looks
forward to working with Malaysian law enforcement in investigating the 1MDB
case. "The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that the United States
and its financial system are not threatened by corrupt individuals
and kleptocrats who seek to hide their ill-gotten wealth," it said in the statement. "Whenever
possible, recovered assets will be used to benefit the people harmed by these
acts of corruption and abuse of office."
Malaysia's anti-graft chief says was threatened
The head of Malaysia's anti-graft commission gave an emotional account on Tuesday of how he was harassed and threatened in 2015 while investigating the 1MDB state fund, and said that on one occasion a bullet was sent to his home.
Shukri Abdull was speaking after Najib arrived at the headquarters of the MACC in Putrajaya.
Shukri told a news conference he had called Najib into the agency to record a statement, not to arrest or charge him.
The MACC action is just the beginning of a new probe into the alleged theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB, a scandal that dogged the last three years of Najib's near-decade-long rule and was one of the main reasons why voters dumped him in a general election on May 9.
"We wanted to bring back money that was stolen back to our country. Instead we were accused of bringing down the country, we were accused of being traitors," he said.
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