Zahid to Muhyiddin: Show evidence Najib had RM4b in his account

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today told his predecessor Muhyiddin Yassin to prove that Prime Minister Najib Razak had close to RM1 billion in his personal bank account even before the purported RM2.6 billion 'Arab donation' came in.

"Ask him to produce the evidence if he has it," he said at a press conference in Putrajaya.

"He accused our prime minister, he must show the evidence. Don't make allegations based on hearsay," he responded curtly.

The former deputy premier had claimed close to RM1 billion was already in Najib's personal bank account even before the widely reported RM2.6 billion came in.

In total, Muhyiddin claimed there was almost RM4 billion in Najib's personal bank acounts.

Muhyiddin said he learnt about the deposits from then attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, who shared the information with him.

On Aug 27, Muhyiddin (photo) told a ceramah in Kelantan that he almost passed out after he looked at the figures in Najib's personal bank account.

"The attorney-general at that time... he showed me - I almost fainted looking at that much money in Najib's account.

"I felt like fainting but luckily I didn't," said the pro tem president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

Meanwhile, asked about the students who took part in the TangkapMO1 rally on Saturday, Zahid suggested that the government may not probe them.

"No, we (will) see only," he said on his way out of the hotel after the press conference.

Student activists took to the streets with thousands of protesters to pressure authorities to arrest 'Malaysian Official 1', the mysterious figure whom the US Department of Justice claimed bagged US$731 million in stolen 1MDB funds.

Zahid also said the government will respect the decision by the Court of Appeal which ruled that the ban on yellow T-shirt and pamphlet with the words on it wasunreasonable.

"We have to respect the decision made by the court," he said.

Bersih had applied to challenge the government's ban announced in the run-up to the massive Bersih 4 mega rally in Aug 29 and 30 last year.

Discussion on dual nationality

Earlier today, Zahid met Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan to discuss transborder issues, including on dual nationality for those holding both Malaysian and Thai citizenship.

They also discussed on security issues and Malaysia's request to extradite 10 Thai nationals allegedly involved in human trafficking at the borders which led to the notorious mass grave in Wang Kelian.

According to Zahid, Malaysia had identified the Thai suspects, aged between 35 and 60, who were the mastermind behind the human trafficking incident.

"This is for legal action. To drag them to court to press charges because Malaysia does not want the international community to see (as though) this is done (only) by Malaysians," he said.

Zahid said Thailand also pledged to handover the arrested suspects to Malaysia immediately. Some suspects are still at large.

A total of 139 graves and 106 bodies, believed to be Rohingyas, and 29 illegal immigrant detention camps were discovered at Malaysia-Thai border in Wang Kelian in May 2015. -Mkini