Minister in Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said said a tweet by Petaling Jaya Utara Member of Parliament Tony Pua that Prime Minister Najib Razak has been sentenced now that the lawsuit was filed, was inaccurate.
“The US Attorney-General did not name the prime minister as a defendant.
“As a Public Accounts Committee member, he should understand the matter better and not issue confusing statements.
“Furthermore, it is a civil case. Not criminal,” Azalina, who is in charge of legal affairs, said in a statement.
The Pengerang MP also said the Opposition was practising double standards by urging the prime minister to go on leave, yet remaining silent on DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng, who was recently charged for corruption.
Meanwhile, Umno Information Chief Annuar Musa claimed that the Opposition did not understand the US DoJ civil suit that would go through certain processes.
“It is clear, 1MDB or the prime minister are not related to what the department is doing.
“If people understood this, they won’t get excited.
“I read some of the remarks on Wednesday where some people were quick to ask the prime minister to resign.
“These people have their own agenda and are taking the opportunity to bring down a democratically elected leader,” he told reporters during a function.
The Ketereh MP said if the US DoJ won the civil suit to recover those assets, it will be returned to 1MDB.
Annuar was also asked to comment on the Opposition’s call for Najib Razak to resign over the matter.
“We wish the Opposition good luck; they can keep trying.”
The DoJ filed lawsuits yesterday, claiming that over USD3.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB.
In its lawsuits, filed in Los Angeles, the DoJ said it sought to seize assets bought allegedly from funds misappropriated from 1MDB.
The DoJ alleged the offences were committed over a four-year period and involved multiple individuals, including Malaysian officials and their associates, who conspired to fraudulently divert billions of dollars from 1MDB.
It specifically named Riza Aziz, who is Prime Minister Najib Razak’s stepson, Low Taek Jho (better known as Jho Low), and Abu Dhabi government officials Khadem al-Qubaisi and Mohamed Ahmed Badawy Al-Husseiny.
The DoJ’s seizure of more than USD1 billion worth of assets will be the single largest seizure in US history.