KUALA LUMPUR: Police have started investigating the Wall Street Journal for breaching financial secrecy laws in Malaysia.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the investigations, under Banking and Financial Institutions Act 1989, and Section 4 of the Computer Crimes Act 1997, is the same law used to investigate any similar case of illegal banking information disclosure, including against banks, their officers and anyone who are not authorised by Bank Negara to have such information.
"Investigation on 1MDB is ongoing, and at the same time, we will also investigate the leak of banking information in this issue.
"We have received many reports on banking information leaks, and if action is not taken it can threaten the country's economy," he told reporters here today.
Khalid also denied that the murder of the first managing director and chief executive officer of Arab-Malaysian Development Bank, now known as Ambank Group, Hussain Ahmad Najadi, was connected to the 1MDB funds issue.
Khalid said the allegation made in a blog recently was untrue and slanderous.