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By Rozanna Latiff and A. Ananthalakshmi
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – (Corrects the spelling of 1MDB in title)
The government of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has spent years systematically obstructing investigations into the alleged looting of the 1MDB state fund, while ruthlessly muzzling critics, according to current and former government officials
. The Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) effectively blocked local investigations into the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal (1MDB), while five other countries, including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore, conducted their own investigations [19659005]. The probe in Malaysia ended abruptly in May when Najib lost power in an election. On Tuesday, Najib was arrested by the Malaysian authorities as part of an investigation into SRC International, a former 1MDB unit, according to an investigation group. Sources close to the case said that he could face several charges.
Najib, who lost power in an election last month, has always denied any wrongdoing in 1MDB and the CBC. A current Najib badistant refused to respond to the allegations of interference and camouflage
Reuters interviews with a dozen current and former government officials show that the obstruction of investigators took place on several levels
. said he was convinced that there were manipulations of key witnesses. The official, who refused to be identified because he is still involved in the 1MDB probe, said that he had the impression that at the time the MACC spoke to the witnesses, they had been trained on what they had to say or were too afraid to speak because they had been threatened
Other witnesses could not be found. "There were witnesses who disappeared, ran abroad," and some were clearly informed by officials from other government agencies, said the head of the MACC. He did not name these witnesses because some of them are still in demand
Najib's office also sought to tightly control all public comments on 1MDB
MACC is supposed to be an organization independent government that operates without government interference, but three former MACC communications officials told Reuters that many press releases on the 1MDB probe published by the MACC were written by the Prime Minister's Office.
And it was not just at the anti-corruption agency that the heat was intense.
The new Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng, told Reuters that there was "full coverage" at the Ministry of Finance
"CASE ALMOST PERFECT"
The new Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad told Reuters: Two weeks ago, he holds Najib fully accountable for the 1MDB scandal and the Malaysian authorities have "an almost perfect deal" against him.
As a result of an anti-kleptocratic investigation, the US Department of Justice has advanced billion has been embezzled from 1MDB and that's about $ 700 million of the fund's money ended in Najib's personal bank accounts.
Najib told Reuters in an interview last month that he should not be blamed for any of the problems at the fund and said that he knew nothing about why hundreds of millions $ 1MDB appeared on his bank account.
For example, in July 2015, Najib dismissed Abdul Gani Patail, then attorney general at the time, for "health reasons" at the time the official was preparing the trial. load Najib. He also dismissed Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Ybadin the same month after criticizing Najib for handling the scandal.
But the intensity of the pressure exerted by the other branches of government on the MACC is only becoming clearer.
SENT TO HIS HOUSE
In May, about two weeks after the ouster of Najib, the new MACC leader, Mohn Shukri Abdull, recalled that his investigation of the 1MDB had been stalled in 2015. [19659003] Shukri, who had been a deputy He recounted how he had faced threats to his job and worse – a bullet was sent to his home in 2015. He asked for and received the protection of the US police when 39; a visit to Washington and New York because he thought He was followed by Malaysian government agents.
"We did not know who were the main people pushing MACC, but there were many," said another MACC official. The MACC senior representative also stated that the police were ingested in the MACC investigations while she was investigating how about $ 10.6 million of the CBC was paid into the Najib's bank account.
He stated that some of the witnesses to this investigation could not be found because they were being held at the police headquarters.
The Malaysian police did not respond to a request for comment by e-mail.
Khalid Abu Bakar, who was chief of the Malaysian police between 2012 and 2017, has been seen banning leaving Malaysia since the elections. Mahathir said Khalid would be investigated for his role in the 1MDB probe.
Khalid did not respond to a request for comment.
Asked about the dismissal and transfer of officials involved in the investigation, Najib's badistant said the actions were aimed at suppressing a "political coup". He denied that there was intimidation.
AUDITORS IN DARKNESS
An elder government source said that officials at the MOF, which was also headed by Najib, were educated to cover the 1MDB affair
"The decisions were made at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), and the Department of Finance had to find a way to hide it and find a way to pay it, "said this person.
The checks and balances have been ignored. For example, a member of the Auditor General's team who reviewed the finances of 1MDB in 2015 said that the fund was highly secretive and that he did not release all his documents and records hard to auditors.
Najib acknowledged in the Reuters interview that "there were some short-term payments that needed to be made" compared to 1MDB after the fund became so politicized that it could not act alone.
(Reportage by Rozanna Latiff and A. Ananthalakshmi, Additional Report by Praveen Menon, Joseph Sipalan and John Geddie, edited by Martin Howell)
This story was not edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by self-feeding.
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