KUALA LUMPUR Malaysia’s anti-graft agency has interviewed the donor behind deposits of 2.six billion ringgit ($ 617.3 million) that were placed in Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bank account, the New Straits Occasions reported on its site on Monday, citing an agency official.
The report comes following the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) questioned Najib for two-and-a-half hours on Saturday, in a case that has prompted calls for the prime minister’s resignation.
A graft scandal erupted about Najib in July when the Wall Street Journal reported that investigators focused on state fund 1Malaysia Improvement Berhad (1MDB) had discovered that funds had been transferred into Najib’s personal accounts.
Najib who chairs the 1MDB advisory board, has denied wrongdoing or taking any income for personal gain. The MACC had said earlier that the income was a political donation from an unidentified Middle Eastern benefactor.
MACC’s investigations division director Azam Baki was quoted by the New Straits Instances as saying that investigators met the donor lately in the Middle East. He gave no further specifics on the identity of the donor, the report said.
“When we have completed our investigation, we will hand more than the findings to the Deputy Public Prosecutor, who will decide on the subsequent course of action,” Azam was quoted as saying.
MACC was not instantly offered to comment on the report.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon Editing by Alex Richardson)
