KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): A lawyer who is allegedly being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for purported corruption and money laundering of 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) assets during the government’s efforts to recover those assets has described the probe as malicious and made up of false allegations.
The lawyer, in a note to his partners sighted by The Edge, said the probe is an excuse to victimise him and the firm.
“It is to make us pariahs,” he added.
He explained that he was questioned at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya for about four hours from late afternoon to about 8pm on Friday, with another senior partner. This was after the anti-graft body went to their office on Friday morning and took some documents, and initially wanted to interview them there.
The investigation is on an undisclosed report that the Goldman Sachs settlement was unfavourable to Malaysia because the law firm allegedly received kickbacks from the US financial institution.
The lawyer in the note said there were past striking allegations made by an individual and an organisation against him, and the lawyer had taken action to clear his name, resulting in an apology from one of them.
“I had also lodged reports on this matter in 2021 and this year,” the lawyer said in the note.
The lawyer also said he had sent a letter to current 1MDB task force chairman and Titiwangsa Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani to deny the new allegations, and that the MACC could also check with Johari on the contents of the letter.
The lawyer, in the note to the firm, said it was illogical to suggest that he or the firm had manipulated the Goldman Sachs negotiation, as it was also supervised by the 1MDB task force that comprised the attorney general, Bank Negara Malaysia governor, Securities Commission Malaysia chairman, Inspector General of Police, National Anti-Financial Crime Centre and the Global Infrastructure Anti-Corruption Centre under the Finance Ministry, and headed by the then finance minister.
“Even MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki and the MACC director of anti-money laundering were directly involved. Surely they would know it is impossible to fiddle with the negotiations. To me, it is clear this was just an excuse to victimise me, my partners and my firm and to make us pariahs,” the lawyer added.
The Edge is withholding the name of the lawyer who made the note and is subject to the probe.
The MACC said it is investigating several individuals suspected of being involved in corruption and money laundering during the government’s efforts to recover assets related to 1MDB and this included a lawyer.
It alleged that the lawyer is said to have received a significant amount of money that is said to have been invested in an unlicensed investment company which had been imposed with action from Bank Negara in 2021.
An MACC source also said the lawyer had been appointed by 1MDB to resolve the company’s asset issues with foreign companies, adding that MACC officers went to the law firm involved on Friday to obtain documents related to the probe.
Azam said the probe is done under the MACC Act 2009, and under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
Several reports named the firm that the MACC went to as Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership.