COMMENT It is interesting to note the admission by Umno minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan that 'Malaysian Official 1' (MO1) in the report by the Department of Justice, the United States of America is obviously Najib Abdul Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia.

Now, what does the DOJ say about MO1, i.e. about Najib the Malaysian prime minister.

1. On page 13, paragraph 39, the report says, “Upon its formation, MO1 i.e. Najib assumed a position of authority with 1MDB. MO1 (Najib) had the authority to approve all appointments to, and removals from, 1MDB’s board of directors and 1MDB’s senior management team. In addition, any financial commitments by 1MDB, including investments, that were likely to affect a guarantee given by the government of Malaysia for the benefit of 1MDB or any policy of the Malaysian government required the approval of MO1 i.e. Najib.”

2. Page 17 paragraph 50. “A special meeting of 1MDB board was held on Sept 26, 2009. Low (not a board member) also attended this meeting.”

3. Page 11 paragraph 29. “Aziz is a relative of MO1 (Najib) and a friend of Low.”

4. Page 55 paragraph 178. “Once funds were transferred from Aabar-BVI to Blackstone, they were used to make payments to Qubaisi and Husseiny, who served as officers of both Aabar and Aabar-BVI to MO1 (Najib) and to 1MDB Officer 3.”

5. Page 59 paragraph 192. “The MB consulting account received another wire transfer of $1,500,000 from the Blackstone account on or about January 22, 2013.

"Blackstone transferred at least $30 million to an account belonging to MO1 (Najib).”

6. Page 59 paragraph 193. “Blackstone also transferred at least $30,000,000 to an account belonging to MO1 (Najib) shortly after receiving funds from Aabar-BVI.”

7. Page 59 paragraph 194. “On or about Oct 30, 2012 – roughly seven days after Blackstone received $75,000,000 directly from Aabar-BVI and roughly six days after it received $360,000,000 indirectly from Aabar-BVI via Enterprise and Cistenique – Blackstone transferred $5,000,000 into the account at Ambank in Malaysia held in the name of 'Amprivate Banking MR'.”

8. Page 59 paragraph 195 . “The bank account 'Amprivate Banking MR' belongs to MO1 (Najib) and is the same account that received $20,000,000 from the Petrosaudi co-founder in 2011, within days of the receipt by the Petrosaudi co-founder of funds from Good Star, as set forth in Section II.G.”

9. Page 59 paragraph 196. “On or about November 19, 2012 – less than two weeks after Blackstone received $95,000,000 from Aabar-BVI via Enterprise – Blackstone transferred $25,000,000 to the same Amprivate Banking MR account belonging to MO1 (Najib).

10. Page 60 paragraph 200 . “Blackstone was used as an intermediary to obscure the fact that 1MDB bond proceeds were being sent from Aabar-BVI – of which Qubaisi and Husseiny were directors – to accounts that were beneficially owned by Qubaisi, Husseiny, MO1 (Najib) and 1MDB Officer 3.”

11. Page 60 paragraph 201. “The funds sent to accounts belonging to Qubaisi, Husseiny, MO1 (Najib) and 1MDB Officer 3, as described above, were unlawfully misappropriated from 1MDB and/or IPIC.”

12. Page 60 paragraph 202. “Between June 18, 2012 and November 4, 2012 $238,000,000 was transferred directly from Aabar-BVI Swiss Account to an account controlled by Aziz, a relative of MO1 (Najib).”

13. Page 67 paragraph 229. “Funds transferred to the Tanore account were distributed for the benefit of at least one public official associated with 1MDB. More particularly, very shortly after the bond offering closed, between approximately March 21, 2013 and March 25, 2013, $681,000,000 was transferred from the Tanore account to an account belonging to MO1 (Najib). Of this amount, approximately $620 million was returned to the Tanore account on or about August 26, 2013.”

14. Page 71 paragraph 242. “The offering circular also omitted material facts necessary to make its representations regarding the use of the bond proceeds not misleading, in that it failed to disclose that certain individuals related to 1MDB, including MO1 (Najib), would receive hundreds of millions of dollars from the proceeds of the bond sale within days of its closing. This fact would have been material to the bond transaction, as it would have alerted investors to the possibility of conflicts of interest and related-party transactions. The representation that ADMIC had not determined how all of the bond proceeds would be used did not encompass using those funds, beginning almost immediately after the bond issue, for the personal benefit of individuals related to 1MDB and their associates.”

15. Page 74 paragraph 257. “Instead, funds from the Tanore account were sent to an account belonging to MO1 (Najib), and were used by Tan and Low to purchase art. Funds from the Tanore account were also used by Low to acquire a substantial interest in a luxury hotel in New York City. These uses were inconsistent with the intended purpose of the bond proceeds as set forth in the offering circular and the April 23, 2013, 1MDB press release.”

16. Page 75. D. “$681 million was transferred from the Tanore account to an account belonging to MO1 (Najib).”

17. Page 75 paragraph 259. “Shortly after proceeds of the 2013 bond sale were diverted to the Tanore account, $681,000,000 was sent from the Tanore account to a bank account belonging to MO1 (Najib).”

18. Page 75 paragraph 261. “This account belonged to MO1 (Najib) and is the same account that in 2011 received $20 million from the Petrosaudi co-founder that was traceable to the Good Star account, as set forth in Section II.G. It is also the same account in 2012 that received at least $30 million from the Blackstone account that was traceable to the Aabar-BVI Swiss account and the 2012 bond proceeds, as set forth in Section III.E.3.”

19. Page 75 paragraph 262. “On or about August 26, 2013, $620,010,715 was wired from a different account at Ambank to the Tanore account. This AmBank account also belonged to MO1 (Najib), and the transfer represented funds from the $681 million payments that were being returned to Tanore.

20. Page 75 paragraph 263. “The attorney-general of Malaysia publicly stated that he conducted an inquiry into the $681 million in payments. In a press release issued on January 26, 2016, the Malaysian attorney-general confirmed that, “the sum of US$681 million (RM2.08 billion) [was] transferred into the personal account of [MO1 (Najib)] between 22.03.2013 and 10.04.2013,” and that, “in August 2013, a sum of US$620 million (RM2.03 billion) was returned by [MO1 (Najib)] ….” The Malaysian attorney-general ultimately characterised the payment of $681 million as a “personal donation to [MO1 (Najib)] from the Saudi royal family which was given to him without any consideration.”

21. Page 76 paragraph 264. “Bank records associated with the Tanore account show that Tan was the beneficial owner of the Tanore account, from which the $681,000,000 payments to the account of MO1 (Najib) were made, and that 1MDB Officer 3 was added as an authorised signor on the Tanore account roughly one day before the first wire of $620,000,000 was sent from the Tanore account to the account of MO1 (Najib).”

DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD is a former prime minister. This article first appeared on his blog, chedet.cc.