Mahathir claimed there were reports linking Prime Minister Najib Razak to the alleged embezzlement, following investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Bank Negara and the auditor-general.

But these reports, he alleged, were sealed under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), making it inaccessible to those without clearance.

“OSA doesn’t mean a criminal act can become an official secret. Hiding evidence of a crime is an offence. We will ask the attorney-general about this,” Mahathir said, referring to Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali, who had previously cleared Najib of any wrongdoing over allegations related to 1MDB.

“If you want to know whether an offence had been committed, you have to give victory to Pakatan,” the PPBM chairman said.

Mahathir was speaking at his first ceramah since being officially named Pakatan’s chairman. The Pakatan ceramah, titled “Love Malaysia, End Kleptocracy”, was attended by a crowd of around 1,000 here.

The 92-year-old, who was also the fourth prime minister of Malaysia, said based on his knowledge and experience of having led the country for over two decades, OSA was meant to be used for official documents, information and materials deemed classified.

“Evidence of a crime shouldn’t be protected under the OSA and in fact, everyone has a responsibility to report knowledge of a crime.

“It’s a responsibility for anyone with knowledge that a crime has been committed, to report it to the authorities,” Mahathir said.

Allegations of Najib’s involvement in the embezzlement of 1MDB funds surfaced back in 2015, when the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that around RM2.6 billion was allegedly funnelled into Najib’s personal accounts.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing and said the RM2.6 billion was a donation from a member of the Saudi royal family, to help Barisan Nasional’s campaign in the run-up to the last general election.

Apandi confirmed this last year, and cleared the prime minister.

But just months later, the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a civil forfeiture suit against assets allegedly purchased with embezzled 1MDB funds.

In June this year, it filed another suit, bringing the total value of assets sought by the DoJ to US$1.8 billion (RM7.7 billion).

The DoJ also charged that from 2009 through 2015, more than US$4.5 billion (RM19 billion) belonging to 1MDB had been diverted by high-level officials of the fund and their associates.

FMT has contacted Apandi and is awaiting his response to Mahathir’s allegations.