Those who downplay the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) forfeiture lawsuits related to 1MDB as civil suits have been reminded the court action is nevertheless based on criminal conduct.
"The entire claim uses words like fraud, conspiracy... Everything they're talking about in this claim is criminal.
"This is about criminal conduct, but this is a civil process because it is about seizing assets, that's the civil part," said former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan at NGO Aliran's fundraising dinner last night.
The DOJ on Wednesday claimed over US$3.5 billion of 1MDB funds had been misappropriated.
In its filings to seize over US$1 billion in assets bought in the country with the allegedly illicit funds, the words criminal conduct, criminal proceeds and criminal offence appear 13 times.
The first mention concerns how, between 2009 to 2013, multiple individuals including public officials, conspired "to launder the proceeds of that criminal conduct, including in and through US financial institutions."
The suits added that the "criminal conduct alleged herein occurred in three principal phases" in reference to the alleged siphoning of 1MDB funds into Good Star, Aabar-BVI, and Tanore.
The suits also cite Malaysia's criminal law - namely that misappropriating public funds by a public official, and bank fraud are crimes - as a basis for its action.
Putrajaya, including Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, have downplayed the severity of the suits by saying that it is merely civil action.
Despite this, Ambiga said the Najib administration has begun to resort to fear to quell public anger over the DOJ's damning revelations.
She cited remarks by BN leaders including Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who yesterday warned "foreign meddling" may cause conflict and civil war in Malaysia, as it did in Iraq and Syria.
Ambiga, who is National Human Rights Society (Hakam) president said the public should nevertheless still join the planned Bersih 5 rally to pressure Najib to quit over the DOJ's lawsuits.
"We must in one single voice tell this PM to pack his bags."
Najib is not named in the DOJ suits, but reference is made to a high ranking public officer cited as 'Malaysian Official 1', who is accused of receiving US$731 million in siphoned 1MDB funds. - Mkini
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