Startled Noh Omar says doesn't know who MO1 is

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Umno minister Noh Omar today admitted that he still does not know who 'Malaysian Official 1' (MO1) is.

This is despite fellow minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan having already confirmed that the person mentioned in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) civil suit on 1MDB is Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Noh, who is also Selangor BN chief, confessed he was in the dark about MO1 when responding to a question about Institut Darul Ehsan's (IDE) survey, which found that 40 percent of BN supporters in Selangor want the government to act against MO1.

He initially fell silent when the question was posed to him.

When pressed for a second time, Noh's press secretary told the urban wellbeing, housing and local government minister that he did not have to answer the question.

However, Noh finally replied: "I too do not know who is Malaysian Official 1. Go and ask DOJ about that".

His brief and hesitant response contrasted sharply with his earlier eagerness to respond to a previous question on the survey's other finding – that voters in Selangor's Malay belt still supported Najib, despite the 1MDB scandal.

He had said at length that the survey results proved the 1MDB issue was spun by the opposition.

"The only one who speaks about 1MDB is the opposition. They manipulated the 1MDB issue,” Noh had earlier said.

"As for the US Department of Justice (DOJ) case, we know it's a civil suit. Let the courts investigate.

"That's the problem with the opposition, the 1MDB case hasn't even started but they've already made conclusions," he said.

When asked if the IDE survey boosted BN's confidence of winning the next elections, Noh replied that winning was their goal regardless.

"Even if there wasn't a survey, our goal is to win. Who doesn't want to win?" he had said with a smile.

The DOJ civil suit filed in August seeks to forfeit over US$1 billion assets believed to have been purchased using funds misappropriated from 1MDB.

The DOJ claimed MO1 had received some US$731 million from the Malaysian state fund.

Earlier this month, Rahman admitted to BBC that MO1, mentioned 36 times in the DOJ's court application, referred to Najib.

However, the minister in the Prime Minister's Department said Najib was not named in the civil suits as he was not involved in the case. -Mkini