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Clean chit to Najib in $681 million graft case
Malaysian Prime Minister is off the hook in the massive US$ 681 million graft case after the country’s attorney general claimed the money, transferred to the Prime Minister’s personal bank account was a gift from the Saudi Arabian royal family and there were no criminal offences or corruption involved.
By
migrator
migrator
Kuala Lumpur
The involvement of the Saudi royal family is an unexpected twist in a scandal over the mysterious funds transfer and the troubles of indebted state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), whose advisory board Najib chairs.
“I am satisfied with the findings that the funds were not a form of graft or bribery,” attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali told a hastily called news conference, where a statement was issued that said Najib had returned $620 million to the Saudi royal family because it had not been utilised.
“There was no reason given as to why the donation was made to PM Najib, that is between him and the Saudi family,” Apandi said, adding no further action would be taken.
‘Nothing personal’
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission had earlier said the funds were a political donation from an unidentified Middle Eastern benefactor.
Najib, who has weathered months of calls from Opposition leaders and establishment figures to resign, has denied any wrongdoing and says he did not take any money for personal gain.
The scandal has shaken investors in Southeast Asia’s third-biggest economy and rocked public confidence in the coalition led by Najib’s United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) party, which has held power since independence in 1957.
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