PAS leaves it to court to decide on MACC’s ‘1MDB money’

PAS has said it should be left to the court of law, and not the MACC, to determine if money sought by the latter did indeed belong to 1MDB.

Party deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said this was so as the anti-graft body was merely an investigative body.

He reportedly questioned how individuals or entities would otherwise be able to determine if the embattled sovereign wealth fund was indeed the source of the money received.

“So, to verify if it is true or not (that the money belonged to 1MDB), it must be brought to court,” he was quoted saying by Free Malaysia Today.

His statement came following the announcement by MACC last week that it had filed civil forfeiture suits worth RM270 million against 41 local individuals and groups.

It was claimed the monies were distributed to the respondents from former premier Najib Abdul Razak’s personal bank account purposefully set up to receive 1MDB funds.

However, no individuals associated with PAS were listed in the suit.

This was, however, followed by a statement by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng that the forfeiture list was not final, followed by MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Azam Baki who said a new list could be released in two weeks' time.

Tuan Ibrahim cited the example of Rayhar Travels Sdn Bhd, one of the companies listed by the MACC.

The travel agency had explained the money was payment received from "an individual" who sponsored umrah packages in 2013 for people from the Pekan area in Pahang, and that the company was probed over the matter in 2018.