The Malaysian Insight

THE latest US Department of Justice (DoJ) suit is more political than legal, said a Cabinet minister today, adding it served to provide fodder for the opposition as the next general election nears.

“It (the DoJ suit) is very high-handed, and it is more political rather than legal,” said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Rahman said the case had not been brought to court yet the DoJ had made certain allusions that were “unfortunate and regrettable”.

For example, he said, the DoJ had brought up a diamond necklace that was allegedly bought with RM27.3 million stolen from state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).  

“Why does the DoJ bring up the issue of the diamond, when they themselves are not interested in taking possession of it for the investigations?” Rahman asked today.

In the DoJ suit filed in the United States last Thursday, it was revealed that the necklace was bought by Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, for the wife of “Malaysian Official No.1 (MO1). 

Rahman had previously confirmed that MO1 was Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Rahman asked if it was right for the DoJ to come out with statements that were “so flamboyant, over the top and full of insinuation” while the investigation was still ongoing.

“Remember you are talking about a country which is about go into election, and you know these kind of press statements from the DoJ will be fully utilised and abused by the opposition,” he said.

He added that people should not “draw conclusions” and should instead wait for investigations to complete before “insinuating anything”. 

The DoJ on Thursday moved to seize another US$540 million (RM2.3 billion) in assets that were allegedly bought with money stolen from the 1MDB fund, bringing the funds allegedly misappropriated to US$4.5 billion.

Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali acknowledged the latest suit while expressing his frustration at the US prosecutors for failing to alert Malaysian authorities before filing the suit.

Apandi said he had yet to be provided with evidence of criminal wrongdoing by any of the investigators of the 1MDB financial scandal across the globe, nor had these investigators pressed any criminal charges.

Many Malaysians, including lawyers and politicians, have expressed surprise at the AG’s quick dismissal of the suit as well as Barisan Nasional ministers’ attempts to discredit the 251-page document released by the DoJ.

The US DOJ made history, July last year when it filed to seize about US$1 billion of assets allegedly stolen from 1MDB. It was the largest case under its kleptocracy asset recovery initiative, and a record that will be augmented by recent bid to seize US$540 million more of assets in the continuing 1MDB saga. – June 20, 2017.