Malaysia’s attorney general said that Saudi Arabia’s royal family was the source of a US$681 million “donation” that has engulfed Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in scandal, clearing him of graft allegations.
Mohamed Apandi Ali said a review of evidence compiled by the nation’s anti-graft agency showed that the money received in 2013 was a “personal donation from the Saudi royal family,” giving no further information on the source.
He said US$620 million was returned to the Saudis a few months later, but he did not say why.
Photo: EPA
Najib, 62, has for months denied accusations that the huge payments into his own bank accounts — just before a hotly contested 2013 general election — were siphoned from a now-struggling state-owned company he launched.
However, until now, the precise origin of the funds has not been specified, other than vague claims by Najib’s government that it came from unnamed Middle Eastern donors.
The money’s purpose has never been revealed.
“No criminal offense has been committed by [the prime minister],” Apandi, who was installed by Najib shortly after the scandal broke last year, said in a statement.
He added that he would instruct authorities to close this and related cases.
The fund transfers were revealed in July last year, just as Najib was battling allegations that hundreds of millions of dollars were missing from deals involving the state-owned company, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Najib said the attorney general’s finding “confirmed what I have maintained all along: that no crime was committed.”
“This issue has been an unnecessary distraction for the country,” he said in a statement, adding that it was time for Malaysia to “unite and move on.”
However, opposition figures swiftly denounced the announcement, calling it part of a broader cover-up.
“This will cause people to ask whether the AG [attorney general] carried out his duty professionally, freely and fairly,” opposition leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail told reporters, according to the Malaysian Insider news site.
Apandi — who has ties to Najib’s ruling United Malays National Organisation — came to office after Najib sacked the previous attorney general, who was believed to be aggressively investigating the matter. That move drew sharp accusations of interference by Najib.
“[Apandi] has to give an explanation to Malaysians. The AG has to do a lot of convincing,” Wan Azizah said.
The “donation” alibi is widely dismissed by Malaysians, and even critics within the ruling party have demanded an independent probe and accused Najib of manipulating investigations.
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