Following yesterday's exposé on SRC International's alleged money trail, PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli today raised questions on how the authorities handled a trader who was linked with investigations on 1MDB.
Rafizi, who relied on documents uploaded to sprminsider.blogspot.my, claimed that the trader had withdrawn RM43 million in cash cheques within three weeks in early 2015.
"Why didn't Bank Negara charge (the trader) for money laundering. Withdrawing RM43 million in cash in a span of three weeks surely would have been noticed by Bank Negara as early as January 2015 when the cheques were cashed out," Rafizi told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
He claimed that the trader, who is in his early 30s, had withdrawn RM8 million through 16 cash cheques on Dec 31, 2014, and then another RM35 million through 71 cash cheques between Jan 15 to Jan 20, 2015.
He further claimed that this money originated from former 1MDB subsidiary, SRC International, and was layered through several companies before being channeled into the trader's enterprise and withdrawn in cash cheques.
These allegations were based on documents uploaded on a blog called sprminsider.blogspot.my in October 2016. The Communications and Multimedia Ministry has blocked access to the site.
Malaysiakini cannot independently verify the authenticity of these documents.
Why didn't Bank Negara act?
Regardless of the source of the money, Rafizi said, Bank Negara, as the regulatory body, should have been alerted when the trader withdrew such huge amounts of money in cash in such a short amount of time.
"Even if there was no special task force to investigate 1MDB, Bank Negara should have apprehended this guy as early as February (2015), a few weeks after he cashed out RM43 million in cash.
"Even if there was no proof about where the money came from, what is most important is cashing out RM43 million cash and not being able to explain what were your sales, why did you receive RM43 million, what did you do with the RM43 million.
"It is clearly an offence under Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla)," he said.
Rafizi also urged the police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Bank Negara to disclose who ultimately received the RM43 million which was withdrawn by the trader.
"What use does a small trader like him have for RM43 million in cash?" Rafizi asked.
He also said he will be lodging a report with Bank Negara next week about the trader.
"Only by charging someone like (the trader) will we know who received the RM43 million," he said.
Trader's company shut down
A person who was arrested by the MACC in July 2015 in relations to investigations on SRC International appear to fit Rafizi's description. Malaysiakini is withholding the name of the person pending comments.
Checks on the status of the trader's company through the Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) found that the company was shut down in November 2014.
Both the trader's and the company's listed address were the same. A visit to the stated address found that it was located among a row of shoplots with residences on the second floor.
The shoplot downstairs at the listed address was a glass and aluminium store. The grilled gate leading upstairs was locked and no one answered the calls from downstairs.
Yesterday, Rafizi had disclosed alleged leaked documents which showed several Umno divisions, BN parties as well as media-related entities had received funds from SRC.
The alleged money trail also showed that Najib's aide and government negotiator in the 1MDB-International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) settlement process, Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, received RM2 million.
Amhari did not respond to Malaysiakini's queries on this matter.
One confirmation so far
So far, only one organisation had confirmed receiving the sum stated in the sprminsider.blogspot.mydocuments dump. Attempts to contact the other alleged recipients are underway.
Centre for Strategic Engagement Sdn Bhd, which received RM300,000 according to the documents, confirmed conducting "constituency studies and media monitoring for various BN parties" and said they charge clients for their services.
It was also reported that yet another recipient Yayasan Al-Abrar chairperson Syed Mehdar Syed Abdullah was "unsure" if the foundation received the alleged RM5 million.
Najib has repeatedly denied abusing public funds for personal gain with regard to the sum in his bank account, RM2.6 billion of which was said to be a donation from a Saudi royal.
Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has also cleared him of any wrongdoing.
In clearing the prime minister, Apandi had said there was also no evidence to show that Najib had any knowledge or had been informed that monies had been transferred into his personal account from SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary, which is now under the Finance Ministry helmed by Najib.
He said evidence also indicated that the prime minister was of the belief that all payments made to him was from the Saudi royal family donation transferred into his personal accounts earlier.- Mkini
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