Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's fund-raising capabilities rival that of US presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, says DAP deputy publicity chief Teo Nie Ching.
Obama and Romney had raised US$715 million and US$446 million respectively for their campaign, Teo said, unlike Najib who raised RM2.6 billion, as revealed by the MACC.
However, the major difference between Najib and the two Americans was that the Americans sourced their money from relatively smaller donors, with their two biggest donors being the University of California (US$1.35 million) and Goldman Sachs (US$1.05 million).
"Najib, being a prime minister of a developing country, allegedly sourced US$681 million from Tanore Finance, a British Virgin Islands-based company and RM42 million from SRC International Sdn Bhd, an energy company that originally was controlled by 1MDB but was transferred to the Finance Ministry in 2012.
"Even the US president, who is considered the most powerful and influential person in the world, does not seem to have Najib's magic.
"Thus, how could MACC possibly believe the explanation that US$681 million, (allegedly) from Tanore Finance, was merely political donation and nothing else?" Teo, who is the MP for Kulai asked in a statement yesterday.
Why is Muhyiddin in the dark?
The MACC announced yesterday that it had concluded the RM2.6 billion deposited into Najib's private bank accounts were sourced from "donors" and the matter has been referred to the Attorney-General's Chambers.
Teo added that it was strange that if Najib really was holding money in trust for BN or Umno, why would deputy Umno president Muhyiddin Yassin be unaware of it?
"Does the Umno party constitution allow its president to have a secret trust account on behalf of the party?" she asked.
Although Muhyiddin has not addressed the matter publicly, a leaked video recording of his conversation with Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir reveals that the former deputy prime minister is in the dark about the matter.
Muhyiddin had claimed that he confronted Najib about the RM2.6 billion, to which the prime minister said the money came from Middle Eastern figures.
Related reports
1MDB: Truth prevailed as MACC cleared us
Netizens troll #DearNajib over RM2.6b 'donation'
Why the spin if money was from wealthy Arabs?
‘1MDB probes no longer trustworthy’
BN allies too comatose to react to Umno taunts
Does PM want us to pluck 'pucuk paku'?
To prove 'donations', 'hunters' are now 'hunted'
If funds from overseas, Malaysia in deep trouble
Reshuffle a done deal, let's move on, says PM
Changing the way politics is funded
‘The iceberg of political financing is melting’
Najib uses raw power to stay put in Putrajaya
