“It is not billions, but it is a start. It is good news.

“We hope this will be followed by subsequent payments to Malaysia, where we will get back the money stolen from 1MDB,” he said at a press conference here today.

However, he declined to reveal the amount, or whether it would come from a local or overseas source.

“Let us announce all this when it is finalised,” he said.

He also urged the political parties which had voiced support for the National Anti-Corruption Plan launched by the prime minister yesterday to return any money received from 1MDB.

“I hope they can return it to the government,” he added. “Which political party, I think everyone knows. One received hundreds of millions while another received RM16.5 million.”

If they did not return the money, he said, necessary action would be taken, including legal action.

“As I said, we start with the billions and millions. Step by step. We will try to recover the big ones first.”