KUALA LUMPUR: THE Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission is still investigating the case involving A$320,000 (RM970,000) found in the Australian bank account of Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd.
Sources with knowledge of the investigation said the commission had applied to the Australian Federal Police for access to documents relevant to the case, but had yet to receive them.
“The investigators are waiting. The case was reported in Australia, so investigators have to go back to
the source. Australia has yet to share the documents related to the probe.
“These documents are needed because investigators cannot simply jump the gun and declare an official case against the director,” one of the sources told the New Straits Times.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, in a statement on March 2, had said police were made aware of the account in 2016 and an internal inquiry was immediately conducted by the Integrity and Standard Compliance Department.
Fuzi had said the money in the account was from legitimate sources and meant for lawful purposes.
He said investigations revealed that the Australian account was opened in 2011 to facilitate the transfer of funds to finance Wan Ahmad Najmuddin’s son’s education in the country, and was subsequently reactivated in 2016 to plan for his daughter’s master’s degree course down under.
Fuzi said Wan Ahmad Najmuddin provided evidence to prove that the funds were from the sale of his house in Shah Alam, worth RM700,000.
Then deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was also home minister, had come to Wan Ahmad Najmuddin’s defence, saying that the latter “was naive” about Australian laws when he transferred the funds to the country.
Zahid, on March 4, had said that Australian laws required one to obtain permission when transferring A$10,000 and above to the country.
He was quoted as saying that he accepted Wan Ahmad Najmuddin as he was “certain of his honesty”.
However, one of the sources said MACC was not satisfied with clarifications by Zahid and Fuzi.
“I don’t buy the story because as long as we have not seen the official documents, it’s a matter of conjecture.”
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Australian Federal Police had frozen more than A$320,000 in Wan Ahmad Najmuddin’s Sydney bank account, saying that it was possibly laundered money or proceeds of a crime.
The newspaper said Wan Ahmad Najmuddin had not moved to recover the money from the authorities, saying that court action would be too expensive.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
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