KUALA LUMPUR - A police raid on Malaysia's national graft-buster agency, the MACC, has sent shock waves through the country, angering the powerful civil service, and prompting accusations Prime Minister Najib Razak was 'desperate' to cover his tracks in the 1MDB financial debacle, which includes alleged corruption in state-owned firm SRC International.
Indeed, Najib's 'purge' in the form of a series of shock sackings, including the sudden removal of Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Attorney General Gani Patail, multiple arrests as well as threats against senior government officers, has already yielded results.
Not only has Najib pushed back an internal party uprising, led by former premier Mahathir Mohamad who had called for his ouster, he has succeeded in dismantling a special task force probe into alleged corruption at scandal-tainted state investor 1MDB.
Plan to break up MACC's probe into SRC International?
Additionally, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission - despite its top 2 officials going on 'mysterious' leave - has seen fit to issue statements clearing Najib from allegations he had diverted RM2.6 billion of 1MDB-linked money into his private bank accounts. The MACC yesterday confirmed the money was a 'donation' from Middle Eastern sources but declined to name who these were.
However, the MACC also said it would summon Najib for questioning over the 'donation', and vowed to continue probing SRC International over a money trail exposed last month by the Wall Street Journal showing a sum of RM42 mil funneled into Najib's accounts.
In response, the police - whose chief Khalid Bakar is aligned to Najib - have intensified their crackdown on the MACC, despite the anti-graft commission being a sister enforcement agency. Several MACC investigators have been questioned and arrested on the grounds they might be involved in a conspiracy with foreigners to leak information and harm Malaysia's 'democracy'.
Bahri Mohamad Zain, the director of the MACC's special operations division, which was raided by the police yesterday, has condemned the harassment, vowing to find the 'black hands' behind the order to intimidate his men.
"I will find the perpetrators who are ordering the arrests. By God, I will find the perpetrators till kingdom come. We do not have time to play politics as we are doing our job as entrusted by the public on what they expect us to do with regard to this investigation," said Bahri, whose angry words left no doubt as to whom he was accusing of sabotaging his team's SRC probe.
The money trail exposed by the Wall Street Journal on July 3
SRC International Sdn Bhd, which is fully owned by the Finance Ministry, came under the spotlight following claims that RM42 million was deposited into Najib's bank accounts between late last year and February this year. Bahri's division had also arrested and remanded several top executives in connection with its probe.
1MDB is a national fund created by Najib when he came to power in 2009 and is now saddled with debts of RM42 billion. The sovereign fund has also been accused of shady deals, purportedly arranged by Najib's family friend Jho Low, with billions siphoned into Najib's personal bank accounts.
Najib has denied wrongdoing but not receiving the money in his accounts, which have since been closed.
Forced to go underground to uncover corruption?
The conflicting messages coming out from the MACC has sparked red-hot speculation. What is going on in the anti-corruption commission - what is real and which is drama aimed to help Najib 'cleanse' himself of the most serious corruption scandal in Malaysian history.
All eyes are now MACC's bombshell announcement that it will summon Naajib for questioning over the 'donation'. Was it a mere sop to appease angry Malaysians or is the MACC waging a 'guerrilla war' against the Najib administration in a bid to unravel the complex web of corruption in 1MDB and its units including, SRC.
"What is clear for now is that Najib's camp is intent on breaking up the MACC. Some say Abu Kassim went off to Saudi to verify the authenticity of the donation but more likely he and his deputy disappeared so as to let the police have a free hand in their raids against the special ops team probing into SRC," said a political watcher.
"I don't how long Bahri can take the heat, he may be the next to be sacked. I hope his team won't cave in but for sure the pressure will grow until they do exactly as Najib and his supporters want."
Zahid behind the 'donation' letters?
Zahid left, Najib center, Hishammuddin right
Speculation is also rife about the role played by newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, who was sharply criticized within his Umno party and accused of 'selling his soul' to help Najib in return for Muhyiddin's post.
"According to the grapevine, Najib had asked Zahid to meet this Arab source to obtain letters confirming the RM2.6 bil was a donation. This would let Najib off the hook. But if the MACC really goes all out to check, they may find the real truth behind the so-called donation," said the political insider.
According to the insider, Zahid is believed to have met the Arab source when he did his Umrah or pilgrimage last month. Zahid and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had joined Najib, who was also in Saudi Arabia for an official visit.
Prince Awaleed?
Meanwhile, the MACC, while refusing to name the donors, had mentioned the discovery of 4 letters.
Already, there are whispers that one of the donors is Prince Awaleed bin Talal, who had last month pledged to donate his entire US$32 bil fortune to charity in the same mold as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the U.S.
Prince Awaleed, a member of the Saudi royal family, is pegged as the 34th richest person in the world, with US$22.6 bill in wealth. Bloomberg lists Alaweed as the 20th wealthiest in the world, with US$30.6 billion in wealth.
Saudi billionaire Prince Awaleed who built his fortune from owning a chunk of shares in US banking group Citigroup
Awaleed had said his philanthropic pledge was to "help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief and create a more tolerant and accepting world". The donation "will be allocated according to a well-devised plan throughout the coming years", with no time limit for the donation to be spent.
The Saudi billionaire also said he would head a board of trustees tasked with spending the funds, adding the pledge would still be used after his death "for humanitarian projects and initiatives".
If indeed it is true there are plans to make use of Awaleed's name to awe and fool the Umno grassroots, Najib's propagandists may be digging an even bigger hole for him and themselves.
"Malaysia is terribly sick and in an unprecedented crisis," wrote Opposition stalwart Lim Kit Siang in a statement.
"Never before in the nation’s history has there been a more fractured government and divided nation – with the government warring against itself after the sacking of Gani Patail as Attorney-General, the scuttling of the multi-agency Special Task Force on 1MDB and the Wall Street Journal report of July 3 about RM2.6 billion deposited into Prime Minister’s personal accounts in AmBank in March 2013, and the 'witch-hunt' against the other three agencies in the Special Task Force, the AGC, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Bank Negar Malaysia (BNM)." - Malaysia Chronicle
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