Rafizi: If PM clueless, who authorised SRC's RM42m transfer?

Rafizi Ramli has several questions with regard to the RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd which was transferred into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts.

This is after attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali said Najib had no knowledge nor was he informed that the sum originated from the former 1MDB subsidiary.

"Whatever explanation so far did not answer a key question - since the RM42 million was transferred from SRC, who in SRC authorised the transfer?" asked the PKR vice-president.

"As importantly, why would SRC have details of Najib's personal accounts unless this was provided by Najib himself in the first place?" he told Malaysiakini.

The Pandan lawmaker said for the transfer to take place, SRC would need to have Najib's account number, which he added was most probably given by the prime minister himself.

"Then how is it Najib could have given the account number but did not recall that the money that went to his account was from SRC?" he queried.

This morning, Apandi said evidence showed that at all material times, the prime minister was of the belief the "payments made to him" originated from the Saudi royal family's RM2.6 billion political donation.

"There is no evidence to show the PM gave any approval for the transfer of monies from the account of SRC International into his personal accounts," he said.

Apandi was responding to the investigation papers submitted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which he said provided no grounds to prosecute Najib.

The RM2.6 billion was transferred in 2013 whereas the RM42 million from SRC International was channelled into his accounts in late 2014 and early 2015.

Meanwhile, Rafizi likened the issue to a ping-pong match, and also noted how Apandi said that Najib had returned RM2.03 billion to the Saudi royal family in August 2013.

"Najib said he got a RM2.6 billion donation, somehow he returned it back.

"Then one year later, somehow the generous Arab donor donated RM42 million again into his account through SRC

"I am concerned Najib puts this as his version of events because if people do not know that the story is an official government version, people would think it is a tale from a madman.

"The web of lies gets bigger and when it is pulled down one day, it will entangle many people who spin this mad story every day thinking they can hoodwink Malaysians," he warned. -Mkini