Dr Mahathir Mohamad has claimed Umno was told that the money purportedly deposited into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's bank accounts was used in the last general election.

"There is no denial the money was deposited in the private account. The explanation to Umno is that it was for the elections. Umno seems satisfied.

"Don't they know that government money cannot be used to help a political party win elections?” he said in his blog today.

“But the money was from donation. Who donated the RM2 billion? No answer," he added.

Previously, there was speculation that since ruling coalition candidates had received a portion for their respective campaigns, Umno cannot afford to rebel against Najib.

Following this, Culture and Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz said The Wall Street Journal which claimed Najib used 1MDB funds for BN's election campaign, if proven true, would confirm the firm’s money was not missing as argued by detractors.

The WSJ later reported that RM2.6 billion had been banked into Najib's private accounts.

The prime minister has only denied using public funds for personal gain and has sent a legal letter to the WSJ.

He also accused Mahathir of masterminding these allegations in an attempt to topple him from power.

[More to follow]