MP SPEAKS Najib Abdul Razak would have woken up today to his darkest nightmare yet when the Swiss attorney-general issued a public statement bluntly confirming US$4 billion of misappropriations in 1MDB.

The Swiss statement said Michael Lauber’s investigation had already “revealed serious indications that funds have been misappropriated from Malaysian state companies”.

Those funds “would have been earmarked for investment in economic and social development projects in Malaysia,” the Swiss official said.

The Swiss prosecutor said the misappropriated amount was suspected to be around US$4 billion. He said a small portion of the money had been transferred to accounts held in Switzerland by former Malaysian public officials and current and former public officials from the United Arab Emirates.

The announcement came hot on the heels of the Malaysian attorney-general clearing Najib of any wrongdoing in the RM2.6 billion donation scandal.

The attorney-general, Apandi Ali, in clearing the prime minister, then denied the request by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to approach regulators of foreign jurisdictions to complete their investigations.

However the tables are now turned when Switzerland’s chief prosecutor said he has formally asked Malaysia for help with his probe into possible violations of Swiss law by the state-owned fund 1MDB.

The office of Swiss attorney-general Lauber said the request pertained to possible violations of Swiss laws related to bribery of foreign officials, misconduct in public office, money laundering and criminal mismanagement at 1MDB.

He further exposed that the Swiss attorney-general’s office had opened criminal proceedings last August against two former 1MDB officials as well as “persons unknown.”

We now urge Apandi to fulfil Malaysia’s obligations under the international Mutual Legal Assistance treaties to cooperate fully with foreign investigating agencies and providing all necessary information on bribery and corruption scandal. Such cooperation will not only go a long way towards identifying the culprits behind the RM50 billion monster scandal but also removing the perception that the Malaysian AG was biased in favour of the prime minister .

With the latest staggering disclosure, we also urge all investigating agencies in Malaysia, the Bank Negara, the MACC, the Royal Malaysian Police, the auditor-general and the Public Accounts Committee to double up their effort to uncover the truth behind Malaysia’s biggest scandal in history.

TONY PUA is DAP national publicity secretary and Petaling Jaya Utara MP.