Najib files police report, claims evidence withheld from him
Najib Razak wants the police to investigate if various agencies and the former Pakatan Harapan administration hid vital information from him and the public.
PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak today lodged a report to get the police to investigate whether material evidence relevant to his court cases had been concealed by key members of various government agencies and the former Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.
Speaking to reporters outside the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur, Najib referred to transactions worth millions of ringgit linked to prosecution witnesses in both his SRC International and 1MDB cases that had only recently been reported or confirmed.
One of these witnesses was described as a “former Bank Negara Malaysia governor,” with Najib saying he had “fully trusted her during my time as prime minister”.
“No one can be more disappointed than me, as no investigation agency had ever revealed to me the governor’s family ties to Jho Low,” he said, without naming the person in question.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last week confirmed that RM65 million of 1MDB-linked funds were recovered from Cutting Edge Industries, a company in Singapore controlled by Tawfiq Ayman, and his partner, Samuel Goh.
Tawfiq is the husband of former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
It was reported earlier this year that Iron Rhapsody – owned by Tawfiq and his son – received a total of RM66 million from companies and bank accounts linked to Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), the fugitive financier at the centre of the 1MDB scandal.
Singapore police were also reported to have informed BNM in 2015 and 2016 of these suspicious transactions involving companies owned by Tawfiq, with the funds coming from accounts linked to Jho Low. Zeti was BNM governor at the time.
Najib also took to task former attorney-general Tommy Thomas for his part in the concealing of such information.
“I am disappointed with the revelation by Thomas two days ago that he was aware of such transactions during his time in office, as well as the answer in Parliament on Monday by law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar that the police had known about this since at least 2019 but were still investigating it until now.
“Such information was never made known to me and my legal team for use in my court defence despite her (Zeti) being named as a prosecution witness in both my SRC and 1MDB cases,” he said.
According to Najib, he was also made aware that another key prosecution witness in the SRC case had similarly received more than RM85 million in funds directly linked to 1MDB.
“Again, me and my legal team were not told about this,” he said.
Following the announcement by the MACC, several quarters have called for investigations to be opened into Zeti’s role over the 1MDB saga.
They include PKR’s Subang Jaya MP Wong Chen, PAS information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin, MCA central committee member Quek Tai Seong and Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi, who also wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) set up on the issue.
PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak today lodged a report to get the police to investigate whether material evidence relevant to his court cases had been concealed by key members of various government agencies and the former Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.
Speaking to reporters outside the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur, Najib referred to transactions worth millions of ringgit linked to prosecution witnesses in both his SRC International and 1MDB cases that had only recently been reported or confirmed.
One of these witnesses was described as a “former Bank Negara Malaysia governor,” with Najib saying he had “fully trusted her during my time as prime minister”.
“No one can be more disappointed than me, as no investigation agency had ever revealed to me the governor’s family ties to Jho Low,” he said, without naming the person in question.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) last week confirmed that RM65 million of 1MDB-linked funds were recovered from Cutting Edge Industries, a company in Singapore controlled by Tawfiq Ayman, and his partner, Samuel Goh.
Tawfiq is the husband of former Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
It was reported earlier this year that Iron Rhapsody – owned by Tawfiq and his son – received a total of RM66 million from companies and bank accounts linked to Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), the fugitive financier at the centre of the 1MDB scandal.
Singapore police were also reported to have informed BNM in 2015 and 2016 of these suspicious transactions involving companies owned by Tawfiq, with the funds coming from accounts linked to Jho Low. Zeti was BNM governor at the time.
Najib also took to task former attorney-general Tommy Thomas for his part in the concealing of such information.
“I am disappointed with the revelation by Thomas two days ago that he was aware of such transactions during his time in office, as well as the answer in Parliament on Monday by law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar that the police had known about this since at least 2019 but were still investigating it until now.
“Such information was never made known to me and my legal team for use in my court defence despite her (Zeti) being named as a prosecution witness in both my SRC and 1MDB cases,” he said.
According to Najib, he was also made aware that another key prosecution witness in the SRC case had similarly received more than RM85 million in funds directly linked to 1MDB.
“Again, me and my legal team were not told about this,” he said.
Following the announcement by the MACC, several quarters have called for investigations to be opened into Zeti’s role over the 1MDB saga.
They include PKR’s Subang Jaya MP Wong Chen, PAS information chief Khairil Nizam Khirudin, MCA central committee member Quek Tai Seong and Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi, who also wants a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) set up on the issue.
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