Salleh says Swiss A-G broke protocol over 1MDB probe

Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak says 1MDB has been audited since 2009 and that there’s no way RM16.8 billion could have been stolen from the state investment fund. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 2, 2016.

Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak has accused Switzerland’s attorney-general of breaking protocol and circulating misinformation when alleging that billions of dollars had been stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

The communications and multimedia minister told the Guardian newspaper today that “these premature statements appear to have been made without a full and comprehensive appreciation of all the facts.”

“It’s very unusual, and against normal protocol, for a senior official of one country to speak publicly on the internal matters of another country. Yet that is what the Swiss attorney-general has done,” he told the British daily.

The Swiss attorney-general’s office statement on Friday reignited graft allegations when it said investigators had “revealed serious indications that funds have been misappropriated” to the tune of US$4 billion.

Salleh said Swiss Attorney-General Michael Lauber should have first contacted his counterpart in Malaysia.

“Does the Swiss A-G normally talk to the media first, and then the relevant authorities afterwards?” he said, adding 1MDB had undergone extensive audits since 2009 and the US$4 billion figure “simply could not have been misappropriated under such conditions.”

He also accused Lauber of inferring that the Malaysian attorney-general had been uncooperative “when in fact Malaysian authorities have been waiting to hear from their Swiss counterparts for many months”, referring to evidence Malaysia has requested from Switzerland.

“In certain Western media outlets, there exists a bias that it’s the institutions and governments of developing ‎countries that don’t play it straight, while Western governments do. In this case, the actions of the Swiss attorney-general prove the opposite,” he told The Guardian.

Salleh joins Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who has also criticised the Swiss A-G for issuing a public statement rather than conveying information directly to the Malaysian authorities.

The Guardian also quoted information head of the Swiss A-G’s office, Andre Marty, saying they would not comment on “political statements”.

Marty said the A-G’s office “took note with satisfaction of the reaction of its Malaysian counterpart and of its commitment to fully support Switzerland’s request for mutual assistance.”

- TMI