Police, not MACC, is probing Zeti's husband

 

The MACC has clarified that the police are investigating former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz's spouse, Tawfiq Ayman.

In a statement, the MACC said the Attorney-General's Chambers had ordered the police to investigate possible violations in the transfer of money to Tawfiq's (above) account in Singapore.

The probes are ongoing, the graft buster added.

The MACC said its instructions from former attorney-general Tommy Thomas, who coordinated investigations in late 2018, was to repatriate 1MDB assets.

This included US$15.4 million (RM64 million) involving the accounts of Singapore-incorporated company Cutting Edge Industries Ltd owned by Tawfiq.

"Therefore, the claims that enforcement agencies had failed to detect, investigate or prosecute this financial transaction, as raised by certain parties, does not arise," the MACC said.

On Nov 19 last year, the anti-corruption agency announced that the US$15.4 million was repatriated from Tawfiq's account in Singapore.

Leissner’s testimony

Interest in Tawfiq's alleged relationship with fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, was renewed after former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner told a US court in New York that his subordinate had informed him that Zeti's husband had been "bribed".

Tawfiq has denied Leissner's claim.

Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner

This, according to Leissner, allowed the proceeds of 1MDB's first bond (RM5 billion) to be transferred out of the country in 2009.

However, Leissner told the court that he could not independently verify if this information was true.

Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak has attempted to use the repatriation of US$15.4 million as evidence in his appeal against his conviction for wrongdoings involving SRC International Sdn Bhd.

In Najib's affidavits, he said recent events had allegedly revealed "the complicity of Zeti in Low's schemes" and had the evidence been available during his trial, the outcome would have been different. - Mkini