HOW SHAMEFUL OF BANK NEGARA: WHAT TYPE OF CENTRAL BANK CLOSES AN EYE WHEN AGENCIES OF AT LEAST 6 COUNTRIES FIND CRIME & CORRUPTION IN NAJIB’S 1MDB – BUT BNM CAN’T

KUALA LUMPUR – Opposition members of Malaysia’s parliament marched on Thursday through the capital’s downtown to the Central Bank where they delivered a memorandum related to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund scandal.

The 1MDB fund is a state-run development company.

Led by federal opposition leader and president of the People’s Justice Party Wan Azizah, about 30 people walked through the downtown area, with some carrying a large banner that read “Dear Malaysia remove kleptocracy” (in English), an epa journalist reported.

Once the group arrived at the Central Bank, the bank’s governor refused to meet them so they gave the memorandum to a representative, Nurul Izzah, People’s Justice Party MP from the capital, told EFE.

Their memorandum includes details of a civil lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) seeking the recovery of more than $1 billion linked to misappropriation from the 1MDB fund, Nurul said.

That suit was filed on June 15, and seeks the return of about $540 million in assets, along with more than $1 billion tied to civil forfeiture complaints filed in July of last year, as well as $100 million in other assets, according to a press release on the DoJ website.

The case is the largest of its kind under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

“The failure of 1MDB to resolve this scandal has tarnished Malaysia’s financial institutions,” Nurul said, adding that bringing the file to the central bank serves as a reminder to officials of their duty to maintain the bank’s credibility.

“We’re upping the ante to expose the wrongdoing through other nationwide grassroots campaigns to stop government plunder of wealth,” she said.

The 1MDB scandal unfolded in July 2015 when Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was accused of diverting hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB into his own bank accounts.

The scandal has seen several senior Malaysian officials lose their jobs or resign, as well as suspicions of government restrictions on media who criticize the premier over 1MDB.

-http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2441221&CategoryId=12396