Malaysia's attorney general says has seen documents on Najib allegations

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's attorney-general said on Saturday that a task force investigating state fund 1MDB had passed several documents to him, including ones connected to allegations that money was transferred into the account of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The statement comes a day after a Wall Street Journal report said that investigators had traced nearly US$700 million (S$942 million) to bank accounts that they believed belonged to the prime minister.

In a statement issued on Friday night, Najib denied taking any money from the state fund or any other entity for personal gain.

Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail said the documents were given to him by the task force made up of members of the country's anti-corruption commission, police and central bank.

"This team have several documents that were passed for me to check. I have verified that I have received these documents on 1MDB including documents connected to allegations that money was transferred into the account of the prime minister," Abdul Gani said in a statement. He did not give any further details about the nature or contents of the documents.

The public prosecutor said he had given guidance to the task force to take further action, but did not specify what action would be initiated.

Following the newspaper report on Friday, 1MDB described the allegations as "unsubstantiated" and said it had never provided any funds to the prime minister.

Abdul Gani also said in his statement on Saturday that the task force had raided the offices of three companies linked to the state investor.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said on Saturday that authorities must immediately investigate the allegations made against Najib in the newspaper report. "These allegations are serious because they can affect the credibility and integrity of Najib as PM and the leader of the government," Muhyiddin said in a statement.

1MDB has faced a storm of criticism over its debt of nearly US$11.6 billion and financial mismanagement. Najib chairs the fund's advisory board.

It faces separate investigations by the country's central bank, auditor general, police and the parliament's Public Accounts Committee.