‘Who was Najib’s generous donor, were there strings attached?’

PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man asks if 'strings were attached' to the funds channelled into the prime minister's bank accounts as political donations. – The Malaysian Insider pic, August 3, 2015.Who was generous enough to donate RM2.6 billion to Datuk Seri Najib Razak and did it come with strings attached, a senior PAS leader asked in response to the latest revelations about funds channelled into the prime minister's bank accounts.

PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has questioned the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s declaration today that the amount, which was transferred to Najib’s personal accounts, did not come from troubled state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

“Is this a donation or a bribe to get something specific? Has the MACC not looked at this?

“What are the conditions of this RM2.6 billion donation? Are we to imagine that a donation this big was made without conditions to the prime minister?” Tuan Ibrahim wrote in a statement today.

“Or is this an accounting trick?” he asked.

The MACC said today that the US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) which was channelled into Najib’s accounts came from donors and not 1MDB. The commission, however, did not identify who these donors were.

This statement appears to nullify the allegation that the money had come from 1MDB-linked subsidiaries. These claims were first made by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and whistleblower website Sarawak Report.

WSJ had published documents online purportedly showing a trail of how the amount made its way from three 1MDB-linked companies into Najib’s personal accounts.

They claimed that the money was used to fund Barisan Nasional’s campaign in the 13th general election in May 2013.

Najib has maintained that he has not taken 1MDB money for personal gain.

“If it is true it’s not 1MDB money, then why are there delays in suing The Wall Street Journal?” Tuan Ibrahim said.

He also questioned why the authorities have not explained why Ambank, where those accounts are located, did not alert Bank Negara when such a large sum was transferred.

- TMI