YOURSAY ‘Already the ‘suspect’ seems to be dictating the scope of inquiry’.
Najib: Task force probing 'if I used funds'
Hytan: "Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today said the scope of the special task force investigating The Wall Street Journal's claims against him, were whether he used 1MDB funds for his personal interest."
The scope of investigation is not correct. It must investigate why the funds were deposited in his personal accounts in the first place.
If they were deposited mistakenly by the bank, why didn’t he inform the bank immediately to rectify the mistake?
Otherwise, he is fully aware of the deposits and he must explain specifically where the funds came from. Till now he has not provided any information on these funds.
Isn’t this not an offence under the Anti-Money Laundering Act? His claim that no funds were used for personal gain is irrelevant.
Anonymous_1391570393: Dear Najib, please answer this simple question first: Did the money go into your account? Yes or no? Why do you keep saying "no money was used for your personal gain?"
Swipenter: First and foremost, Najib never denied that the money was deposited into his private accounts.
Secondly, no one has accused directly him of using the money as if it was his, and/or for his benefit. Thirdly, who did the money belong to and what was it used for, and by whom?
Fourthly, why was it transferred into Najib's personal accounts if it was not for his use?
Fifthly, why Bank Negara did not do anything about such huge transfers since 2013?
And lastly, just looking at the personalities of the task force, it makes you wonder whether they can act without fear or favour.
Justine Gow: As I commented before, the composition of the special task force does not instill great confidence that the investigation will be conducted professionally.
But I still hope that the members in the team would be forced by events or public demand, if not by their own conscience, to do justice for Malaysians and Malaysia.
Ace: Can a suspect or the accused comment/dictate how the investigations into his alleged wrongdoings are to be carried out? Strange, isn't it?
Astounded: This reeks of some potential cover-ups. The important things are: 1) Did the money go into Najib's personal bank accounts; 2) Where did the money come from; 3) Where did the money go?
The public will not be happy if the results of the task force’s investigation state that the money went into the personal accounts of Najib but is satisfied he did not make personal use of the funds, period.
If this happens, the report of the task force will be rejected and a royal commission of inquiry should be established and the results published in all their details.
It is important that Najib, being the person of interest in this scandal, should stand down, as the task force members report to him.
Otherwise the report from the task force will not be credible, especially if its findings are in his favour. He should also not comment on the scope of its investigation as he had done in this news article.
Lamps: The task force reports to the accused. Yes, what a joke.
Turvy: The suspect is in no position to define the nature of the offence. That said, it is for the authorities to determine impartially if any law, regulation or rules of good conduct were breached.
The search for those leaking the information can be postponed to a later date.
Donplaypuks: The WSJ article did not say that Najib used the RM2.6 billion from 1MDB for his personal interest. It never mentioned a word about embezzlement or misappropriation.
So, if the task force is investigating this angle, it is a red herring, and meant to later clear the PM and to say, no, nothing of that sort happened.
What we really want to know is if RM2.6 billion was deposited into Najib's personal account, where did he get such a large fortune, and what it was spent on.
Did he use this money to fund Umno’s election campaigns? And what does he mean the money was not used for his personal interest?
Jbsuara: The crux of the matter is that the transfer of huge sums of public funds into a personal account is totally unacceptable, especially when the said person is himself the finance minister and prime minister.
The finance minister is only the caretaker of properties, revenues and funds belonging to the nation. All such public revenues and funds should be disposed into the nation's treasury for current and future use.
At no juncture should such funds be banked into or disposed into the personal account of senior officers or ministers. What is going on is shady and intriguing.
An independent RCI should be set up to investigate this while the minister involved should go on leave so that the investigation is not hampered.
Maplesyrup: Going by the headlines, perhaps the premier means, if a citizen robs a bank but the money is not for personal use but used to help a relative who is sick, or the funds donated to charity, then it is okay?
Fantastic, so now the police will only have to determine how the loot was used before charging the culprits? Hey wait a minute, there appeared to be some double standards here. In the Altantuya Shaariibuu case, the judge said there was no need to prove motive of her murder.
Please don’t corrupt Malaysian institutions further. Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz should resign from the task force if these are the terms of reference, because anything less means her years of good work as central banker are flushed down the toilet bowl.
RCZ: Firstly, let’s get this straight. WSJ said the billions were in Najib’s personal account and traced them from where they came from, i.e. 1MDB.
That is money laundering and criminal breach of trust if the monies were for one purpose but found their way elsewhere for a dishonest purpose.
WSJ did not say that the money was for Najib’s personal use, but does this matter as billions from 1MDB found its way into his personal accounts?
The important question is that, if this is part of the unexplained RM42 billion, why did it end up in accounts of other companies and then in Najib’s accounts, and what was it used for?
Even if it was used for, say cancer research, that does not matter as this was not given to 1MDB nor received by Najib, for that purpose. The attorney-general ought to know that CBT is CBT.
Bornean: Put the RM2.6 billion into my account... I swear I will not use it for my personal gain.
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