PETALING JAYA: Former Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz and former minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop are being investigated by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) over ties to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) funds, says a report.
A Mingguan Malaysia report, which quoted a source on Sunday (Jan 23), said that police are also investigating Zeti's husband Datuk Tawfiq Ayman over allegations that he received funds related to 1MDB.
“The case has been completed with proposed charges under Section 4 (1) (a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Prevention of Financing of Terrorism and Proceeds from Illegal Activities Act 2001 in the near future," the source told Mingguan Malaysia.
The source reportedly added that the agency's investigation focused more on the receipt of money into Tawfiq's account in Singapore after RM5bil was raised by 1MDB in 2009 via the Ambank Group.
According to Utusan Malaysia’s report, the matter was exposed when the MACC sought to recover 1MDB's assets both locally and abroad involving several "big names" associated with sovereign wealth fund.
“Among the 1MDB's assets abroad such as in Switzerland, Kuwait, Mauritius, Cyprus and Hong Kong are worth RM20.5bil," said the report.
“The involvement of these individuals was identified when the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of Singapore on Nov 12, returned the money belonging to the former CEO of SRC International Sdn Bhd, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil to the Malaysian Government through the Asset Recovery Trust Account of the Finance Ministry worth RM3,617,513.91 (US$864,813.27),” it added.
The Malay daily noted that earlier, Singapore returned the assets of RM64.42mil (US$15.4mil) involving the Cutting Edge Industries Ltd account owned by Tawfiq and his business partner Samuel Goh.
On the investigation on Zeti and Nor Mohamed, the source quoted said that the MACC is investigating allegations of misconduct with the report noting that every investment involving 1MDB funds at that time was definitely in Nor Mohamed's knowledge.
Utusan added that the source said the MACC is investigating the individuals under the MACC Act 2009 and the Money Laundering Act 2001.
It added that when contacted, MACC Money Laundering Division director Mohammad Zamri Zainul Abidin, confirmed receiving a complaint from a non-governmental organization (NGO) urging that an investigation be carried out on Zeti and Nor Mohamed on Dec 22.
“According to Zamri, his party also received a report made by Najib in October last year against former Goldman Sachs senior manager, Tim Leissner,” it said, as Zamri confirmed that an investigation has been carried out on the two complaints.
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