Bank Negara Malaysia governor Muhammad Ibrahim has lodged a police report against The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), revealed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

This is over a letter purportedly from Bank Negara to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairperson Hasan Ariffin, which was under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

The WSJ, which has been accused of being part of the campaign to oust Najib, had tweeted a copy of the letter, and this was later re-tweeted by its Asia chief editor Tom Wright this morning.

“The governor has lodged a police report. The police have to investigate,” the prime minister told reporters after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

“This is very serious, publishing a confidential document OSA. They must be able to provide us with the answers,” he added.

When asked if the letter was authentic, Najib said he did not know and it was up to the police to investigate.

The letter supposedly confirmed that Good Star Limited was owned by tycoon Low Taek Jho, who is better known as Jho Low.

This contradicted the government’s assertion that Good Star, which has since been dissolved, belonged to former 1MDB joint-venture partner PetroSaudi International.

In its report, WSJ said several PAC members had said that Hasan did not inform the PAC about evidence from a senior central bank official that US$1 billion (RM4.06 billion) in 1MDB funds had been transferred to an offshore company owned by Low.

“They said Mr Hasan never shared with the committee any of the contents of the letter, a copy of which was reviewed by the Journal,” the report said.

One of the PAC members who pointed this out is Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, one of the 14 members of the bipartisan committee.

Low is an associate of Najib who had denied links with Good Star.

In a parliamentary reply, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said stated the lines had been expunged because it is classified and not meant for public consumption.

“The PAC chairperson received Bank Negara's information which stated all the information given was 'confidential for the purpose of intelligence only for court usage or public report',” she had said.