Najib back for questioning at Malaysia's anti-graft agency over 1MDB

[PUTRAJAYA] Malaysia's embattled former prime minister Najib Razak returned to the anti-corruption agency headquarters for questioning on Thursday, the second time this week.

He arrived at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at 9.45am, in time for his 10am appointment, but did not speak to the waiting media.

He will continue to give a statement on SRC International, a former subsidiary of state fund 1MDB, and what he knew about suspicious transfers of SRC funds.

He was questioned for over four hours on Tuesday on the SRC issue.

1MDB whistleblower Xavier Andre Justo, a former director at Petrosaudi International, was spotted at the MACC at 9am, an hour before Mr Najib was due to arrive.

The Swiss national, who has met Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad twice in recent days, is a key figure in the 1MDB saga.

He was believed to have shared information on 1MDB with Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, whose site claimed in 2015 that nearly US$700 million (S$941 million) was funnelled into Mr Najib's bank account.

Mr Najib's lawyer, former solicitor-general Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, arrived around 9.30am.

Mr Najib's second trip to the MACC follows fresh revelations that cash seized from apartments linked to him totalled RM120 million (S$40 million).

Following the May 9 election which swept Dr Mahathir Mohamad's opposition coalition into power, official investigations were opened into how billion of dollars disappeared from 1MDB and whether Mr Najib abused his power as prime minister and finance minister.

Mr Najib has denied all allegations.

Mr Mahathir has vowed to fully investigate the financial scandal.

After holding meetings with key figures from 1MDB on Wednesday, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the fund was insolvent, could not pay its debts, and its chief was "utterly dishonest".

Mr Najib and his unpopular wife Rosmah Mansor have suffered a swift fall from grace. Police have raided properties linked to them and seized a huge stash of handbags, cash and jewels.

The ousted leader has sought to mount a fightback in recent days, insisting he has not stolen public and attacking the new government.

In a Facebook post late Wednesday, he accused the new prime minister and finance minister of causing the stock market to fall by saying that the country's national debt was huge.

"Words spoken while in such positions of power result in actual losses to the country and the people," he said.

THE STRAITS TIMES, AFP