DAP’s Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh, who made the call today, said MACC should not confine its investigation to the narrow limits of a Bukit Aman probe and Najmuddin’s explanation alone.
This was after Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said last Friday that an internal inquiry had cleared Najmuddin in 2016 of any wrongdoing after he produced valid documents to show that the funds in his Australian bank account were the proceeds from the sale of his house in Shah Alam valued at RM700,000 (A$260,770 based on the exchange rate at that time).
According to Australian police, the account contained A$320,000 (RM971,500).
“No doubt, Bukit Aman has confirmed that Wan Ahmad was cleared of the matter after an internal probe,” Ramkarpal said in a statement.
“However, the MACC cannot take such a simplistic approach in its investigations on the matter.
“The position is further compounded by (Najmuddin’s) refusal to redeem the said RM971,500 via legally recognised avenues in Australia on the grounds that it would be too expensive despite certain quarters offering him assistance to do so now.
The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) recently reported that the Australian authorities had frozen Najmuddin’s bank account.
The report said the Australian Federal Police (AFP) suspected a “flurry of suspicious cash deposits” into Najmuddin’s Commonwealth Bank “Goal Saver” bank account, which had been lying dormant since it was opened in 2011.
MACC launched its own investigation after its deputy chief commissioner (operations) Azam Baki said the agency received a report by a whistleblower.
Ramkarpal said the MACC investigation was an encouraging development and called on all quarters to give it the time and space to carry out the task.
However, he criticised MACC’s initial reluctance to start the investigations because it had not received any report on the matter.
He said he had stated previously that such a report was not necessary since an investigation had already been launched in Australia by the federal police there.
“The Sydney Morning Herald report indicates there is possibly more to this saga than what the internal probe at Bukit Aman revealed.
“Under the circumstances, the MACC investigations must include the investigations of the Australian federal police and not merely what was investigated by Bukit Aman locally.
“(This is because) it would have been unlikely that the internal probe would have considered matters that are being investigated by the Australian authorities.
“Matters such as who deposited the amounts into (Najmuddin’s) account in Australia and his/her motive for doing so must be thoroughly investigated.”