Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (right), who is part of the 1MDB special task force, says the leak of confidential investigation-related information to the Wall Street Journal is serious and raised national security implications. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, July 13, 2015.
Police will investigate all members of the special task force currently investigating the veracity of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that billions of ringgit had been channelled into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's accounts.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said this was part of the police's "full and independent investigation" after receiving both police reports and instructions from the Attorney-General on the leak of confidential investigation-related information.
"On July 8, 2015, the Attorney-General instructed a full investigation to be carried out on the criminal act of leaking classified documents to foreign nationals. These materials are alleged to be from an unnamed Malaysian government investigation into 1MDB.
"In addition, the Royal Malaysian Police have also received police reports related to this matter. We are, therefore, duty-bound to conduct a full and independent investigation. This will include investigating all members of the special task force, which includes Bank Negara personnel, to uphold the integrity of the inquiry and trust in Malaysia's financial system," Khalid said in a statement today.
The IGP said the objective of the investigation was to identify the culprits who had leaked the information, and whether the documents were genuine or had been doctored.
The high-profile members of the task force are Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akthar Aziz, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, Khalid and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed.
Khalid today warned leakage of information could be an offence under a host of laws, including the Financial Services Act, Islamic Financial Services Act, Official Secrets Act, and the Penal Code for both false and fabricated evidence and criminal defamation.
It could also constitute economic sabotage against Malaysia.
Those found guilty of leaking or doctoring the information would face the full brunt of the law, Khalid said, adding that such criminal acts were serious and raised national security implications.
Khalid added that police have not eliminated the possibility of a conspiracy to subvert Malaysia's democratic process and topple the prime minister.
In its July 2 expose, WSJ reported that some US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) was funnelled into two of Najib's accounts at AmBank in Kuala Lumpur, with the largest portion of the money – US$681 million – allegedly transferred in March 2013, ahead of the 13th general election.
The business daily subsequently posted documents online, showing the money flow into Najib's accounts to support its report.
It also said that the documents had been sourced from a Malaysian government investigation, but did not name the investigators.
Najib has denied taking funds for personal gain, but as finance minister and chairman of 1MDB's advisory board, he has been under scrutiny over the government-owned firm's opaque dealings and RM42 billion debts incurred in just six years of operations.
The two AmBank accounts had also been closed before the WSJ report.
The special task force had frozen six accounts as part of its probe and seized documents related to 17 bank accounts.
It has also raided the offices of local companies alleged to be part of the money transfers.
- TMI
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