Dr Mahathir Mohamad said this but added however that the RM2.6 billion found in Prime Minister Najib Razak’s bank account had still not been properly investigated.
“Today the MACC is so hardworking, going to Sabah to arrest various individuals,” he said, adding that they had still however not investigated the individual with the billions in his personal bank account.
“No need for them to lie and act as though they are going all out to eradicate graft, when there is no probe on the money in Najib’s account,” said Mahathir, who is chairman of Pakatan Harapan.
“To the MACC and its chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad, there is no need to hoodwink the people,” the former prime minister said in his speech at the “Love Malaysia, End Kleptocracy” rally at Padang Timur here last night.
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 had allegedly been 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.
In January last year, Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali cleared Najib of any wrongdoing.
In the last two weeks however, the MACC has arrested several politicians from Parti Warisan Sabah and those linked to its president, Shafie Apdal, in its investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds amounting to RM1.5 billion from rural development projects in Sabah since 2009.
Among those arrested were the party’s vice president Peter Anthony and Youth chief Mohd Azis Jamman. Also nabbed was Shafie’s brother Hamid Apdal.
On a separate note, Mahathir promised the people that should Pakatan Harapan capture Putrajaya in the next general election, they would come to the aid of civil servants who either lost their jobs or did not get a pay increase.
Today’s rally was a culmination of a series of ceramahs over three months revolving around the issue of the 1MDB controversy.