KUALA LUMPUR (April 5): The decision to file the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) investigation papers as NFA (no further action) in 2016 does not mean investigations into the matter were closed, said former Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.
Apandi, who was the AG from July 2015 to June 2018, said this in his written witness statement to the High Court in his defamation suit filed against DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang, where he also informed Justice Datuk Azimah Omar in the proceedings today that the investigations “were not completed up until I left as the AG”.
The suit was over a piece written by Kit Siang, calling for the law veteran to explain why he “aided and abetted in the 1MDB scandal” in an article published on May 6, 2019 entitled “dangerous fallacy to think Malaysia's on the road to integrity”.
In his statement, Apandi denied abusing his position as the then AG to cover up the 1MDB corruption scandal, or that he aided or abetted its alleged perpetrators, including then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Apandi, who chaired a special task force to look into the 1MDB investigations in late 2015 and early 2016, said that “there had been insufficient evidence” to prosecute Najib for any wrongdoing, and subsequently marked the investigation files as “NFA and KUS (kemas untuk simpan)”.
“I must also stress that the decision to “NFA/KUS” any files does not mean that the investigation agencies can never reopen investigations for further investigations should new evidence and facts appear later,” he said.
Apandi chaired the special task force after he replaced previous AG Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who was removed in July 2015.
In the same statement, Apandi also said that the investigation papers were returned to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in early 2016 “for further action”, as stated by him in a statement at a 2016 press conference clearing Najib of any wrongdoing in 1MDB.
“The MACC was at liberty to continue the investigations should new evidence come to light, as was the case in this matter.
“I never closed the investigations, and I challenge the defendant to show that I closed the investigations and never allowed further investigations,” he said.
Calling part of Kit Siang’s write-up as an attack on his “good name, reputation and integrity”, Apandi said: “‘Aided and abetted’ in the said article would surely mean that I facilitated and assisted in the commission of a criminal offence, which was untrue. I did no such thing.
“The defendant was wrong for having written the said article, especially regarding me allegedly having aided and abetted in the 1MDB matter,” Apandi said.
The former AG also denied claims that he did not cooperate with the Swiss AG or the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in relation to inquiries into 1MDB when he was the AG.
Apandi further pointed out that Swiss AG Michael Lauber had explained to him that their investigations were not focused on Najib — currently on trial for alleged corruption in the state-owned fund — but on the 1MDB board members who had accounts in two Swiss banks.
“With regard to the DOJ investigations, I would like to state for the record that I did not receive any form of formal request from the DOJ for any such assistance as alleged by the defendant.
The words "aided and abetted", Apandi said, were used by Kit Siang “without having an understanding as to how the investigations were conducted at the time and the efforts taken in coming to the decision in not prosecuting” Najib then.
“I certainly did not assist anyone in the 1MDB matter nor did I cover up any wrongdoing. I must state for the record that I did not abuse my office as the AG of Malaysia.
“I would certainly not do anything that is against the law. It would have been morally reprehensible and legally wrong for me to have even contemplated such a thing,” the statement further said.
Apandi, 71, filed the suit in 2019, where he sought RM10 million in general damages from Kit Siang, as well as aggravated and exemplary damages, together with an injunction to prevent Kit Siang and/or his agents from publishing the alleged defamatory words again, as well as other relief deemed fit by court.
He was today represented by lawyer M Visvanathan. Kit Siang, meanwhile, was represented by lawyer and DAP Member of Parliament (MP) for Bukit Gelugor Ramkarpal Singh.