Kuala Lumpur (dpa) – Prime Minister Najib Razak was cleared of criminal wrongdoing over the hundreds of millions of dollars found in his bank accounts, the Malaysian attorney general said Tuesday, adding that most of the funds were returned within months.
Najib has been under investigation for six months since a Wall Street Journal report that 2.6 billion ringgit (673 million dollars) was found in his bank accounts.
Najib has maintained the money was donations from the Middle East. Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali said Tueday it was a donation without strings from the Saudi royal family.
It was deposited in Najib’s bank accounts on March 22, 2013 “as a personal donation to the prime minister by the Saudi royal family,” he said, adding that 620 million dollars were returned in August of the same year as the money was not used.
“Based on facts and evidence, no criminal offences have been committed by the PM in relation to three investigation papers,” Apandi said in a press briefing.
“Evidence obtained from the investigation does not show that the donation was given as an inducement or reward for doing anything in relation to his capacity as prime minister,” he said.
“I hereby order the MACC [Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission] to close the investigation papers.”
Malaysian law does not limit the amount of political donations that political parties and individuals can receive from foreign donors.
In July 2015, a the Wall Street Journal reported 2.6 billion ringgit coming from the financially beleaguered state development fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) were apparently funneled into Najib’s private bank accounts.
