APANDI NOW THE MOST ‘POLITICAL AG’ IN THE WORLD: NAJIB’S APPOINTEE PANNED FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT U.S. SUIT WHEN HE IGNORED SWISS PLEA FOR HELP

OPPOSITION leaders have slammed Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali over his claim that the US Department of Justice’s latest civil suit to seize assets bought with money allegedly misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) was politically motivated because his office was not consulted by US authorities.

They say the procedure to recover the assets doesn’t require information from the scandal-ridden state investment fund.

DAP lawmaker Tony Pua said Apandi should not have complained about the civil suits as Malaysia had previously rejected the Swiss attorney-general’s request for mutual legal assistance (MLA).

“Previously, Swiss AG requested assistance from Malaysia and he rejected it.
“So what is he talking about when he didn’t provide any assistance to the Swiss AG?” he said at a press conference at Parliament today.

Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) strategy director Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said DoJ was making a judgment in rem to investigate how the money was plundered and brought into the US.

“So they are using their kleptocracy (asset recovery initiative) procedure to get back all the money stolen and spent in the US.

“In other words, there is no need to for them to refer to 1MDB, this is different to judgment in personam, which they will refer to 1MDB,” he added.

Judgment in rem is a legal principle that entails making a judgment on the status of an object or subject without taking into account the owners or persons who might have an interest in the matter. In contrast, a judgement in personam involves legal action against a person.

Apandi told the national news agency yesterday that the US DoJ never officially requested the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for information or clarification.

Hei also said that the US DoJ civil suits were politically motivated.

“If they had asked, it is our responsibility to assist them. Therefore, I have come to a conclusion that it is politically motivated,” said Apandi, who cleared Prime Minister Najib Razak of any wrongdoing in 1MDB after reviewing the investigation papers in January last year.

Apandi, notably, had said last year that the US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) that Najib received in his bank account was a personal donation from the Saudi royal family.

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com