More than $1-B transferred into Malaysia PM's accounts: WSJ

KUALA LUMPUR - Deposits into Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's bank accounts ran to hundreds of millions of dollars more than previously identified by probes into state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Citing two unnamed people familiar with flows into Najib's accounts and a person familiar with one overseas investigation, the report said that more than $1 billion was deposited from 2011 to 2013, far more than the $681 million earlier identified.

The paper said global investigators believe much of the $1 billion originated with the state fund, known as 1MDB, but did not specify where the extra money came from or what happened to it.

The report contradicts a conclusion reached recently by Malaysia's chief law officer.

Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali cleared Najib in January of any corruption or criminal offences, saying the $681 million transferred into Najib's account was a gift from a member of Saudi Arabia's royal family and that most of it was returned.

A government spokesman said Malaysian authorities had gone to Saudi Arabia to "examine documentation" and interviewed members of the royal family and officials who handled the donations.

"As stated by the attorney-general of Malaysia, the funds received were a donation from Saudi Arabia," the spokesman said in a statement in response to the latest report.

Najib has been buffeted for months by allegations of graft and financial mismanagement at debt-burdened 1MDB and in particular by revelations of the transfer of around $681 million into his account in 2013.

He has denied wrongdoing, saying the funds were a legal political donation and he did not take any money for personal gain.

The Wall Street Journal report said money beyond the $681 million arrived in Najib's account in 2011 and 2012.

It said investigators in two countries believed funds originated from 1MDB and moved through a complex web of transactions. Najib is chairman of the board of advisors to IMDB, a fund set up in 2009, when he came to office, to invest in projects of national importance.

In response to the WSJ report, 1MDB said it has consistently maintained that it has not paid any funds to the personal accounts of the Prime Minister.

"This has been reiterated by multiple lawful authorities including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Malaysian Attorney General, and various reputable international publications, who have confirmed that these funds came from Saudi Arabia," it said in an email response.

Probes into the fund's finances have been opened in Malaysia, the United States, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, the Wall Street Journal said. (Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by John Chalmers and Alex Richardson)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Malaysia to take all-out action vs Sabah 'intruders' - report

An all-out action will be taken against the supporters of the Sultanate of Sulu occupying part of Sabah following a shootout on Friday that left 14 people dead, Malaysia's The Star reported.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced he has already given orders to the police chief to "take whatever action is deemed necessary" as the deadline for the Filipinos to leave has already transpired.

"They have been given full powers. It is up to them and the ground commanders can take action," Najib said in a press conference.

"There will be no compromise; either they surrender or face the consequences," he continued.

In a separate

report

, Najib said he had spoken to President Benigno Aquino III Friday night regarding the matter.


He said the window for negotiations is already closed, given the hostile stand taken by the Sulu Royal Army.

On Friday, tensions at the coveted Sabah led to a shootout that left two Malaysian police and 12 Filipinos dead, Malaysian officials reported. The spokesperson of the Sultanate of Sulu, however, claimed only 10 of their men died in the bloody encounter.

Najib has expressed sadness amid the deaths of Malaysian police and said security in the area has been tightened.

He also stressed the supporters of the Sultanate of Sulu have already been surrounded with navy vessels also patrolling the area to prevent them from escaping.

"What is important now is that whatever means must be used to cripple the group," Najib said.

'Drastic action'

Malaysian Police also said the remaining members of the Royal Army of Sulu holed up in Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu town must surrender or risk facing "drastic action."

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said the group, led by the brother of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, must immediately lay down their arms and surrender.

''We have no other options but to take the necessary action to detain them,'' he said in a report in the Malaysian news portal The Star.

He added that the sultanate's followers are now "trapped" since the police are in complete control of the situation.

"The intruders have been cordoned off in Kampung Tanduo by the security forces... The group is trapped in Kampung Tanduo," Ismail said in a report by state news agency

Bernama
.
"I again ask them to lay down arms and surrender. Otherwise, I will have to resort to drastic and necessary measures to end the situation," he added.

Omar also said that those who surrender would face action under Malaysian law, noting that they have committed a

serious offense
.

Meanwhile, Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein said he would be staying in Sabah until the standoff is resolved.

Malaysian officials claim 12 members of the armed group were killed in a shootout with the police commandos Friday morning. The spokesman of the Kirams, however, claim only 10 died in the encounter while four others were wounded.

Two police commandos were also killed and three others injured in the firefight.

source: abs-cbnnews.com