Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak has been officially cleared from any criminal offence after a probe against him was conducted by a team lead by the Malaysia Attorney General Apandi Ali. According to a statement released by Ali, the team has a proof that the money received by Najib is a donation by the Saudi royal family.
According to The Guardian, the $681 million money received by Najib in his personal bank account was a private donation and has no link with the currently troubled state fund 1MDB.
According to a statement by Apandi, "I am satisfied with the findings that the funds were not a form of graft or bribery." He also added that "There was no reason given as to why the donation was made to PM Najib - that is between him and the Saudi family."
Based on the investigation by the prosecutor, it was found that the money was transferred by the royal family between the end of March and early April 2013 as stated by the BBC. Najib also had notified the prosecutor that he had returned around $620 million of the money back to the royal family in August of the same year as it was not used.
Besides the fund allegation, the prime minister is also cleared from any criminal offence that was filed by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as reported by the Economic Times. According to the attorney general, there is three separate investigations done for this case and he had instructed all three cases to be closed.
The latest decision is expected to be criticized by lots of observers since Apandi, the newly elected attorney general replacing Gani Patail who was sacked when the investigation was taking place. Apandi, a former federal court judge is known to have strong ties to Najib's ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).
Besides closing the case, Apandi also said in a statement that other organization should not ask to seek legal assistance from any foreign state because no criminal offence has been made according to his investigation.
Najib Razak has been under criticism after lots of critics have been accusing him of being the one behind the missing money from 1MDB. Although he has been consistently denying it, he also received lots of pressure from outside and inside to resign over due to the allegation.
1MDB is also currently under investigation by law enforcement from many countries including Switzerland and the United States. The investigation was done due to suspicious trading and fund that has been rumored to be conducted by the organization.
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