No deadline fixed but Apandi will decide according to the law

KUALA LUMPUR: Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Apandi Ali (pic) says he needs time to study the investigation papers into a RM2.6bil political donation to the Prime Minister and a former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) subsidiary.

“I need time because I am bogged down with other matters that need my urgent attention as A-G,” he told The Star in a WhatsApp message yesterday.

He said this when asked about the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s investigation papers into SRC International Sdn Bhd (the former 1MDB subsidiary) and the RM2.6bil donation into Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s personal bank accounts.

MACC deputy chief commissioner of operations Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull said in a Dec 31 statement that the commission had submitted its papers to the A-G that day – two on the SRC and one on the controversial political donation – along with recommended actions.

Shukri added that MACC was awaiting the A-G’s approval for Mutual Legal Assistance so that they could request for certain documents and evidence involving financial institutions overseas to complete its probe into the donation.

Q: Bearing in mind your other duties Tan Sri Apandi, what is a reasonable deadline for you to be able to make a considered decision in a case like this?

A: I cannot fix a deadline.

Q: Do you feel pressured into making a decision when you read or hear of comments ‘predicting’ your decision?

A: I don’t feel pressured.

Earlier this week, Apandi was quoted in a news portal as saying that he would act without fear or favour.

Apandi said he was a man of the law and that he would “decide according to the law”.

He added: “Nobody puts pressure on me.”

Apandi had said this in response to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s assertion that the A-G was quite likely to reject the MACC reports that had been submitted to him for further action.