Najib questioned by anti-corruption authorities

International Desk: Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been questioned by anti-corruption authorities over a financial scandal after his shock election loss.

Najib was summoned to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Tuesday, specifically to answer questions about how $10.5m in government funds from the state-owned entity SRC International Bhd ended up in his private account.

"It's to provide statement, not to arrest him," MACC chief Mohd Shukri Abdull told reporters at a press conference.

"If we are satisfied with his answers, we can let him go. If we need further statements we will call him back again."

Dozens of journalists surrounded Najib as he arrived at the anti-corruption headquarters.

The questioning of Najib comes as Mohd Shukri revealed that witnesses have gone missing, and that he received death threats while pursuing the case implicating Najib in 2015.

"I was threatened to be fired, asked to retire early, take leave early, and be pulled into the training department," he said, referring to the SRC investigation.

SRC is a former subsidiary of the controversial state fund 1MDB, from which officials are alleged to have stolen more than $4.5bn.

In 2016, the US justice department filed a case seeking to seize more than $1bn in assets in the US linked to the 1MDB fund.

US investigators have also alleged that $700 million from the 1MDB fund ended in Najib's bank account.

Najib, who is banned from leaving the country, has denied allegations of wrongdoing.

Source: Al-Jazeera

risingbd/Dhaka/May 22, 2018/A K Azad