Tun M, Opposition MPs & The Rakyat Have So Many Questions About Najib’s RM2.6 Bil Donation
MACC's clarification that the US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) channelled into the PM's personal accounts are actually "donations" and not 1MDB funds is raising more questions than answers.
Cover image via The Malay Mail Online / SAYSPKR files civil suit against PM Najib Razak for allegedly breaking election laws
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4 AUG: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed on 3 August that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) had been wired into PM Najib Razak's private accounts, but the funds had actually come from donors and not 1MDB. The identities of the donors, the purpose of the contribution, nor how the money was spent were not revealed.
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MACC's findings raised more questions than answers among Najib's critics, especially since former PM Tun Dr. Mahathir had earlier explained that during his time in the government, political donations have never been directly transferred into UMNO trustees' personal accounts
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PAS deputy president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man had more than a few questions to ask about MACC's revelations, such as the identities of the donors and if there were strings attached, saying that it's hard to "imagine that a donation this big was made without conditions"
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Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching questioned the possibility of Najib obtaining such a massive amount of funds in one go when US President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney only managed to raise a total of US$715 million (RM2.75 billion) and US$446 million (RM1.7 billion) respectively to fund their campaigns during the 2012 presidential election
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Teo, who is DAP's Assistant National Publicity Secretary, also asked why former deputy PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin were not aware of the donations if Najib was holding onto the money in a 'secret' trust for BN or UMNO
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who is also DAP's Secretary General, said that there are several questions that Najib has yet to explain despite MACC's clarification
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Lim also clarified that DAP had "nothing to hide" when it comes to political funding, adding that it's impossible to disclose every donor who has bought tickets to fundraising events.
In a separate occasion, PKR's Secretary-General Rafizi Ramli said that the party's operations were funded by salary deductions and donation drives.
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Pandan MP Rafizi had earlier predicted that the money channelled into Najib's personal accounts will be written off as donations as part of a "script" to justify the eventual closure of 1MDB investigations, adding that the next agenda would be to reveal that the money came from "rich individuals in the Middle-Eastern"
Rafizi also questioned why the rest of the 1MDB task force were absent in MACC's "suspicious" declaration, while also asking why Najib had not come forward with an explanation and sue WSJ immediately when the allegations first came out
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Veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin also asked why Najib had not explained about the RM2.6 billion from the beginning, remarking that there have been rumours of "generous Arab benefactors" admitting to donating money to the PM
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Defending the site's reports on 1MDB, Sarawak Report founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown also remarked on Najib's failure to provide an explanation from "Day 1". She also questioned the purpose of the donation, saying that the amount would have exceeded the legal limit for political funding, an aspect which has also been pointed out by Tun Dr. Mahathir.
Image via The Rakyat Post
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Urging the PM to reveal details of the donation publicly, BERSIH 2.0 asked if the fund were received in Najib's capacity as PM or UMNO president, alleging that the funds should be considered public money if it's the former
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Questioning the donors' agenda, political activist and prominent lawyer Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan pointed out that if the donations had come from a foreign source, it is likely to have breached several laws, particularly those covering money laundering
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The Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) urged Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to look into the RM2.6 billion donations, alleging that it could be a form of money laundering
Image via Najjua Zulkefli / The Malaysian Insider
