Former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin has questioned why Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had accepted the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report but punished him for saying the same thing.

"The PAC report confirmed my views and concerns on 1MDB.

"Najib appears ready to accept the PAC report, but unfortunately he punished me when I voiced out the same thing in the cabinet," Muhyiddin said in a statement today.

The PAC report last Thursday had, among others, rapped the 1MDB management and former CEO Shahrol Azral Halmi for breaching orders from the board of directors.

The report also called for article 117 of 1MDB's memorandum and articles of association which requires the prime minister to sign off on major decisions, to be abolished.

Muhyiddin had been axed from the cabinet for speaking out against 1MDB last year, and was later suspended as Umno deputy president for refusing to keep quiet.

He had said he had advised Najib on 1MDB multiple times but that his advice was ignored.

In his statement today, Muhyiddin also zeroed in on the International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) statement denying any links to a British Virgin Islands-incorporated firm dubbed Aabar Investments PJS Limited (Aabar BVI).

1MDB had paid RM4.24 billion (about US$1.367 billion) to Aabar BVI as security deposits in 2012, without approval of 1MDB's board of directors.

"This strengthens my previous views that 1MDB from the start was a scam," Muhyiddin said.

Besides the US$1.367 billion, it was reported that 1MDB had paid another US$993 million to Aabar in 2014, to cancel options given to IPIC to buy a stake in its power plants.

The Wall Street Journal had reported that IPIC never received this US$2.4 billion, according to the company’s officials.

1MDB, on the other hand, insisted that it stands by its financial statements, which showed that it made the payment.

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