Ariff: Task force defying Najib?

Raub MP asks 'who has the real power now' as agencies begin arrests and issue wanted posters

KUALA LUMPUR: Raub MP Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz believes there are signs of the four agencies in the 1MDB task force beginning to defy Prime Minister Najib Razak as they continue investigations into the government’s debt-ridden investment company.

Writing in his blog today, Ariff based his speculation on recent actions by Bank Negara, the police and the anti-corruption agency.

“Who’s having the real power now?” he asked.

By putting up wanted posters of two individuals Bank Negara was “serving notice that it intends to disobey and defy Najib,” Ariff said, as the two were associated with controversial businessman Jho Low, an associate of Najib’s family.

Ariff also pointed to the arrests this week of four company directors linked to companies named in news reports alleging money-laundering by companies related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd, and a trail of financial transactions leading to the deposit of US$900 million in accounts under Najib’s name.

He speculated that the task force either had a strong backer or were “finally motivated by righteous objectives”.

As another example in defiance of Najib, he related a source’s account that someone working at Putrajaya Holdings had been arrested and placed in custody on orders from Najib and Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, but had later been transferred to the MACC.

“Which means that Zahid and Najib’s order was countermanded. Which goes to show Najib is losing the battle. Nobody wants to comply with his orders,” Ariff said.

He said Najib’s henchmen had used “diversionary tactics” in ordering the recent actions against The Edge, Financial Daily, and Sarawak Report, as well as attacks on whistleblower Xavier Justo, who leaked a massive amount of company information relating to 1MDB and its joint venture partner PetroSaudi.

These actions could not erase the facts about 1MDB’s massive debts and bond obligations amounting to RM46 billion, or Tabung Haji’s difficulties in selling off land it bought from 1MDB.

He called for the public to focus on the reports that the US$900 million (about RM2.6 billion) in public funds had been paid into Najib’s private accounts.

Najib had much to answer for, Ariff said. “What is the source of the money? Hot money that has travelled the world now coming back to the originator?” He questioned whether it was part of an international money laundering scheme and whether they had transgressed laws in the US, Singapore and other countries.

Ariff urged Bank Negara to “come clean before the Monetary Authority of Singapore does” about transactions involving 1MDB, and asked how Bank Negara and its governor, Zeti Abdul Aziz would fare if MAS, with its reputation for integrity, were able to show violations of banking laws across the world.