Questions by Johor MB’s son on 1MDB proof future is not lost, says DAP

DAP's Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang believes the questions by Akmal Saufi Mohamed Khaled, the son of Johor's menteri besar, are a sign that the younger generation are questioning the events surrounding 1Malaysia Development Berhad. – The Malaysian Insider pic, August 4, 2015.The 15 "hard questions" posed by Akmal Saufi Mohamed Khaled, the son of Johor's menteri besar, to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak asking for further explanations on the US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) in his personal accounts, is proof that the future is not totally lost, says DAP.

Its parliamentary leader, Lim Kit Siang, said this indicated that the younger generation were questioning the statement by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday that no funds from state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) had been channelled into the PM's personal accounts and that the US$700 million had come from donors instead.

"The many other questions posed by Akmal are the very ones making the rounds in the country, as all Malaysians are asking them since the MACC's statement yesterday – proving that Malaysians are not such a supine and unthinking lot," he said in a statement today.

Akmal Saufi's questions were posted on Apanama's blog and followed a statement from his father Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin earlier, that Umno must not allow itself to be "used" as a party to protect the "interests of a few".

Allegations of RM2.67 billion in Najib's accounts first surfaced in a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on July 2, citing documents from Malaysian investigators.

The WSJ said the source of the funds were unknown, but had flown through 1MDB-linked entities in various tranches, the largest of which – US$681 million – was channelled to Najib's accounts in March 2013, ahead of the general election in May that year.

Najib had denied taking 1MDB funds for personal use, but had not directly addressed the fund transfers.

A few of Najib's Cabinet members had previously said that there is nothing wrong in money being funnelled into Najib's personal accounts as he had the capacity to be a trustee for Umno, of which he is president.

In referring to the MACC's announcement that the funds were actually from donors, Lim today said it raised more questions than answers.

He posed four questions to the anti-graft body, asking why was the commission making such statement outside its investigation scope when it had said on July 30 that its probe was limited to a former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International and not on the state investment firm itself.

"When did MACC discover that the RM2.6 billion did not come from 1MDB, and why didn’t MACC make such a statement earlier?" he said.

He asked why such statement was not made by the special task force set up to probe 1MDB and the WSJ's allegations, and wondered if it had ceased to exist with the removal of Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail as attorney-general (a-g) and the action against officials of the MACC, Bank Negara Malaysia and the A-G's Chambers.

"Was MACC’s unsolicited statement yesterday clearing 1MDB as the source of the RM2.6 billion a 'peace' offering by MACC to the end the attacks on MACC, which has seen the harassment, interrogation and arrest of top MACC officials by the police?" he added.

- TMI