KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) move to freeze 408 bank accounts is part of the probe into the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MBD) scandal.
MACC Deputy Chief Commissioner (operations) Datuk Seri Azam Baki said this was provided for under the country’s anti-money laundering laws.
He said this was a legitimate legal process, and accounts frozen for investigation purposes would be unfrozen as soon as they were cleared of suspicious transactions.
“We will determine whether the accounts were in any way linked to the scandal.
“I assure you that if any of the accounts is not involved or linked to any of the subject matter with regard to the investigation, the account will be unfrozen ,” he told the New Straits Times when asked on the status of Nooryana Najwa Najib’s 10-month old son’s account, which was alleged to have also been frozen.
Azam urged all parties to refrain from sensationalising the issue, adding that it might affect ongoing investigations, as well as the accounts holders.
He said MACC would not be held liable to action by any party discussing account details openly, particularly with regard to the issue.
“Investigations are carried out transparently and professionally,” he said.
Nooryana, the daughter of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had taken to social media to highlight the status of her accounts.
She was reported to have done so on her Facebook page after posting bail for Najib with funds said to be from friends and relatives.
Nooryana said she was informed by her bank that it had received instructions to freeze her accounts.
The 1MDB task force said, in a statement, that bank accounts involving funds of about RM1.1 billion had been frozen.
The process was facilitated by MACC, which has the legal power to do so.
The frozen accounts included those of 81 individuals and 55 companies, believed to have received funds from 1MDB, involving nearly 900 transactions between March 2011 and September 2015.
Najib was arrested at his home on Tuesday and was held overnight at the commission’s headquarters.
He was charged the next day with corruption-related offences over his alleged involvement in the multibillion-dollar 1MBD scandal.
The High Court stated that the trial dates would only be fixed after the next mention date on Aug 8.
Get the latest World Cup 2018 scores, highlights and updates from our dedicated World Cup page