The Malaysian Insight

THE call for the authorities to probe Umno’s purported secret unaudited bank account was not intended as an attempt to have the party banned, said Dr Muhammad Faiz Na’aman.

The Bersatu supreme council member said he only wanted the matter to be investigated by the authorities, including by the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

“I did not mean for Umno to be banned, I asked for this matter to be investigated to determine if there really is a secret account.

“If it happens in my party, I will ask for it to be investigated as well. Any party that violates the law, I will ask it to be investigated,” he said.

Faiz was commenting on his allegation that Umno has an account used to stash political donations since 1988.

Details of the account appeared in the High Court suit proceedings of former Umno president Najib Razak and the party to recover RM114.16 million in cash confiscated by the police.

The matter was revealed by the prosecution to refute the allegation that the RM114.16 million was forfeited in connection with 1MDB, which was confiscated from a company, Obyu Holdings Sdn Bhd.

Najib and Umno, in the suit, claimed that part of the RM680 million seized from Obyu Holdings Sdn Bhd belonged to the party.

The other two parties who filed the lawsuit in the case were Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, and Global Royalty Trading SAL who wanted to inspect the seized items.

The confiscated items included 11,991 units of jewellery, 401 watches, 16 watch accessories, 234 pairs of glasses, 306 handbags and RM114,164,393.44 in cash.

The items were confiscated at a luxury residence linked to Najib when an investigation into 1MDB’s irregularities was started as soon as Barisan Nasional (BN) lost the 2018 general election.

The court heard that the account was opened in Southern Bank (which was acquired by CIMB Bank in 2006) at Wisma Genting in 1988, and the then party leaders – including the president, deputy president and treasurer – knew about it. The president was Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy was the late Ghafar Baba, while Daim Zainuddin was party treasurer.

Subsequent Umno presidents, deputy presidents and treasurers would also have known about this secret bank account, as it was managed by them. The bank account was not audited by external auditors and the money is believed to have never been accounted for in the party’s annual financial statements.

“The evidence of Umno’s treasurer (not named) was that there was another unofficial, unaudited bank account that had been used by Umno since 1988 to receive political donations. The unaudited political donations in cash also contravened Section 14(1)(d) and (b) of the Societies Act 1966,” the prosecution told the court.

“The unaccounted for, unverified and unaudited nature of cash seized is also in contravention of various provisions of the Societies Act, which may result in the de-registration of Umno by the Registrar of Societies,” the prosecution added.

Faiz’s remarks triggered angry reactions from Umno leaders with former Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa telling Bersatu leaders not to make statements on the allegations.

Annuar also denied knowledge on the existence of the account despite having been among the ranks of Umno’s top leaders for more than 20 years.

Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, supreme councilor Zahidi Zainul Abidin and Padang Rengas chief Nazri Aziz said they did not know of such an account.

Faiz said he only commented on matters that came out in court and he, himself, did not have evidence on the matter.

“I only commented on the matter. I did not say I saw the evidence. I commented on the issue. This matter is still being heard in court, so I do not dare comment further.

“What’s more, it has already been mentioned in court. If prosecutors mention it, it is usually based on the evidence they get and they can present it to the judge.

“They do not make arbitrary accusations. That is proof, it is only up to the judge to decide the case,” he added.

He also stressed that his party did not make Umno a target for slander following the revelation.

“For me corruption or abuse of power is intolerable. I speak based on facts and not slander, I did not create the situation,” he said.

He noted that Bersatu did not defend party leaders who were detained in connection with drug-trafficking offenses.

“On my side, if it happens to Bersatu, for example, if some members were detained for distributing drugs, we will let the police investigate.”

He said Umno should not be blamed if this is an act of some leaders from the party.

He suspects that the act such as supervising the illegal account may be done by certain leaders in Umno.

Therefore, it is appropriate for other leaders who do not know about the existence of the account to deny it, said Faiz.

“Umno leaders should deny it. They do not know the existence of the account. It is a secret account, it would not be a secret if they all knew about it.

“In my opinion, this is not the fault of Umno but there are some leaders who are not good, there are some leaders who are secretly doing things that are harming their party.”

“Usually in a party, individuals who will know such confidential matters are the president, treasurer and secretary-general, he said. – February 14, 2021.