Najib’s lawyers ask WSJ to confirm allegations of ‘misappropriation’

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Lawyers representing Prime Minister Najib Razak are asking the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to confirm if it accused Mr Najib of misappropriating US$700 million (S$949.4 million) it alleged was funnelled into his accounts from 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

Instead of the usual letter of demand that is used to begin defamation lawsuits, Mr Najib’s lead counsel Mohd Hafarizam Harun confirmed to the Malay Mail Online that they opted to use this as their first course of action.

“Letter to seek confirmation first. We want WSJ to state their stand on the source of money said to have been deposited into client’s personal account,” he told when contacted.

In a report on Friday (July 3), the WSJ, citing documents from Malaysian investigators currently scrutinising the troubled 1MDB’s financials, claimed that a money trail showed that US$700 million was moved between government agencies, banks and companies before it ended up in Mr Najib’s accounts.

In the letter that gave the WSJ two weeks to respond, the lawyers asked the US daily to clarify if it was alleging misappropriation given that the offending article states that the writers were uncertain of the source or purpose of the funds.

“We are instructed to procure your position because the articles collectively suggest that you are unsure of the original source of ‘the money and what happened to the money’ whilst on the other hand, the general gist of the articles create a clear impression that our client has misappropriated about USD 700 million belonging to 1Malaysia Development Berhad,” the letter read.

His lawyers told WSJ that the confirmation is also necessary to enable them to then advise Mr Najib on his “appropriate legal recourse”.

In a report last Friday, the WSJ claimed that a money trail showed that US$700 million was moved between government agencies, banks and companies before it ended up in Mr Najib’s personal accounts.

The US daily claimed to have sighted documents from Malaysian investigators currently scrutinising the troubled 1MDB’s financials, adding that these were the basis of its report.

On Saturday, Attorney-General Abdul Gani confirmed that the special taskforce was already investigating the claim published by the WSJ, and that raids were conducted on three companies implicated in the report – SRC International, Ihsan Perdana and Gandingan Mentari.

Yesterday, Mr Gani and the heads of Bank Negara Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission announced that six bank accounts and 17 documents were seized in relation to the claims.

Mr Najib has denied taking money for personal gain and categorised the allegations as “political sabotage”. THE MALAY MAIL ONLINE