Has MACC issued notice to Najib to disclose assets, asks lawyer

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission may have grounds to compel Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (left) to disclose his assets in relation to allegations that billions of ringgit were channelled into his private bank accounts. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Seth Akmal, July 28, 2015.

A lawyer has asked if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has made a request to Datuk Seri Najib Razak to disclose his assets, adding that it could rely on the law to demand the prime minister to furnish details of his movable and immoveable property, including those outside the country.

Lawyer Razlan Hadri Zulkifli said the anti-graft body could rely on Section 36 of the MACC Act 2009 to demand this disclosure by the prime minister.

He said the section also stated that any person who had been asked to do so must also identify the date when the property was acquired and if the property was transferred, the person must also provide information on that matter.

"Once a demand is made by the commission, this information must be given as required under the law," Razlan told The Malaysian Insider.

He said a MACC officer, from the rank of commissioner and above, who has reasonable grounds to believe that any property acquired by that person violated the act, may issue such a notice.

Razlan said the person must furnish a statement in writing and under oath.

He said the public had the right to know whether the MACC had issued such a notice to Najib and if not, why it was not done.

“(There’s) nothing wrong for the MACC to inform the public as it involved the prime minister and it was a matter of public interest," said the lawyer who had advised clients to disclose details of their property when issued with such notice by the MACC.

Razlan said this in response to claims in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) early this month that nearly US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) was channelled into Najib’s personal bank accounts.

The business newspaper in its July 2 publication had alleged that the largest portion of funds – US$681 million – had been transferred into Najib's accounts at AmBank in Kuala Lumpur, in two tranches in March 2013, ahead of the 13th general election in May.

The WSJ said it sourced its information from documents obtained from Malaysian investigators.

Najib has denied taking funds for personal use but has not commented directly on the transfer of the money into his accounts. 

He instead blamed former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for masterminding the latest allegations.

A special task force, consisting of Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chairman Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed and Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, has been formed to look into the allegation.

The task force has frozen six bank accounts and seized documents related to 17 bank accounts.

It has already raided the offices of SRC International Sdn Bhd, Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd and Ihsan Perdana Sdn Bhd, the companies which were part of the local transfer of funds totalling US$11.1 million (RM42 million).

So far five people, including a despatch rider, have been hauled up by the task force.

- TMI