The Australian documentary 'Four Corners' has laid out what is purported to be details of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal bank accounts.
The programme said that its crew had been shown the bank documents by an unnamed 'high-level source'.
“The banking documents reveal an extraordinary and steady flow of money between 2011 and 2014,” said the programme narrator.
Among others, US$75 million (RM301 million in today's exchange rates) purportedly came from a Saudi prince, while another US$80 million (RM321 million) came from the Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Finance.
A further US$120 million (RM482 million) supposedly came from an unnamed British Virgin Islands shell company. All three transactions were reportedly made by June 26, 2012.
Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing, while attorney-general Mohd Apandi Ali had exonerated him following an investigation by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The documentary also listed two transactions in March 2013 that supposedly came from another BVI company, totalling US$681 million. This is the often-reported RM2.6 billion political donation.
The total received by Najib, according to the documentary, was US$1.03 billion (RM4.14 billion) by April 10, 2013 - just over a month prior to the 13th general election.
The documentary was aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) today, and the 44-minute documentary titled 'State of Fear: Murder and Money in Malaysia' is now available online .
Its journalist Linton Besser and camera operator Louie Eroglu had previously been arrested and deported from Malaysia during the shooting of the documentary earlier this month, after they tried to pose questions regarding the transfers to Najib.
Malaysiakini has contacted the Saudi embassy in Kuala Lumpur regarding the alleged transactions, and is waiting for a reply.
Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing, while attorney-general Mohd Apandi Ali had exonerated him following an investigation by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The MACC had been investigating the RM2.6 billion donation, as well as a RM42 million deposit into Najib's account by the Malaysian Ministry of Finance-owned SRC International.
Apandi had told a press conference in January this year that the RM2.6 billion was a personal contribution from the Saudi royal family and did not contain any element of graft, and most of the money had been returned unspent.
Subsequent to Apandi's press conference, however, the WSJ cited unnamed sources claiming that deposit to Najib's accounts actually totalled USD1 billion, including the USD681 billion that MACC had investigated.
“Most money beyond the previously identified $681 million arrived in 2011 and 2012, said two people familiar with flows into his accounts and a person familiar with one overseas probe,” the March 1 report said, without detailing from where and how the money was deposited.
Meanwhile, the documentary also noted that the government had said two of Najib's bank accounts at AmBank had been closed, but more accounts had been opened since.
“Four Corners has established that three new accounts were opened in the Prime Minister's name, and the money just kept on pouring in.
“In June 2014 for example, the bank was notified of another £50 million (RM285 million) that was being wired to the prime minister's name.
“There were also a series of cash deposits that raised money laundering alerts, here, inside the bank,” Besser said, while standing outside the Ambank's headquarters.
“Here at AmBank, the prime minister's bank accounts were held under the codename Mr X,” he added.
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