The cover-up: Malaysian officials reveal just how much 1MDB probe was obstructed

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – The government of the Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, one of the leaders of the government, said that it was one of the worst countries in the world.

They said the Meddling in the investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) effectively shut down local inquiries into the scandal at 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), including the United States, Switzerland, and Singapore, carried out their own probes.

Anything Eliminating the Process in Malaysia ended abruptly in May when Najib lost power in an election. On Tuesday, Najib was arrested by the Malaysian authorities in relation to a probe into SRC International, to form 1MDB unit, according to an investigating task force. Sources close to the subject said he may face several charges.

Najib, who lost power in an election last month, has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to 1MDB and SRC. A current Najib help declined to respond to allegations of meddling and cover-up.

Interviews by Reuters with a dozen current and former government officials show that the obstruction of investigators occurred on multiple levels.

One senior MACC investigator said he was convinced there was tampering with key witnesses. The official, who felt that they were still involved in the 1MDB probe, said he felt that by the time MACC got to talk to the witnesses they had been coached on what to say or were too frightened to talk because they had been threatened This.

Other witnesses could not be found. "There were some witnesses who disappeared, ran abroad," and some were so told, said the MACC official. He did not name these witnesses because some of them are still being sought.

Najib's office is tightly controlled by the general public on 1MDB.

MACC is a member of the MACC Communications Officers, who is the author of the MACC Communications Officers.

And it was not just at the anti-corruption agency that the heat was intense.

New Finance Minister , Lim Guan Eng, told Reuters there was an "extensive cover up" at the ministry of finance (MOF).

"ALMOST PERFECT CASE"

Malaysia's New Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Najib fully responsible for the 1MDB scandal and that Malaysian authorities have "an almost perfect case" against him.

As a result of an anti-kleptocracy probe, the U.S. Department of Justice has claimed more than $ 4.5 trillion was misappropriated from 1MDB and that about $ 700 million of the fund's money ended up in Najib's personal bank accounts.

Najib told Reuters in an interview last month he should not be mistaken about anything about why millions of dollars from 1MDB allegedly appeared in his bank account.

Some of the ways in which 1MDB has been known for some time.

For example, in July 2015, Najib removed the general attorney Abdul Gani Patail for "health reasons" at a time when the official was preparing to charge Najib. He also removed deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin the same month after he had criticized Najib over his handling of the scandal.

But the intensity of the pressure that MACC faced from other arms of government is only becoming clear.

BULLET SENT TO HIS HOME

In May, about two weeks after Najib's ousting, the newly-appointed head of the MACC, Mohn Shukri Abdull, recalled how he was investigated in 2015.

Shukri, who had been deputy commissioner at MACC until he retired two years ago. York because he felt he was being followed by Malaysian government agents.

"We did not know who were the main people who were putting the pressure on MACC, but there were many of them," another MACC official said. The senior MACC official also said that they were interfering in MACC's investigations as they closed in on a probe of $ 10.6 million from SRC went into Najib's bank account.

He said that some of these witnesses could not be found because they were held at the police headquarters.

Malaysian police did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Khalid Abu Bakar, who was Malaysia's police chief from 2012-2017, has been barred from leaving Malaysia since the election. Mahathir said Khalid would be investigated for his role in the 1MDB probe.

Khalid did not respond to a request for comment.

When asked about the sacking and transfer of officials involved in the probe, the Najib said the actions were to suppress a "political coup". He denied there had been bullying.

AUDITORS IN THE DARK

A senior government source said civil servants at the MOF, which was also run by Najib, were instructed to cover the 1MDB affair.

"Decisions were made at Prime Minister's Office (PMO). And MOF had to find a way to hide it and figure out a way to pay for it, "this person said.

Checks and scales were ignored. For example, a member of the auditor general's team who visited the Ministry of Finance in 2015 said the fund was highly secretive, and did not release all its documents and hard disks to the auditors.

Najib acknowledged in the Reuters interview that "there were some short-term payments that needed to be done" in relation to 1MDB after the fund had become so politicized that it could not act on its own.

(Corrects spelling of 1MDB in headline.)