File photo of Datuk Seri Najib Razak (left) and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi during a Prime Minister’s Department gathering in Putrajaya on December 1, 2008. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — Putrajaya is stymying requests for information by Australian investigators probing a corruption case that implicates two Malaysian prime ministers, The Age reported today.

According to the Australian news outlet, Canberra officials believe that their Malaysian counterparts possess information that links Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his predecessor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, to their investigations into two Australian firms suspected of using bribery to secure currency-note printing jobs.

The information was previously suppressed by an Australian court’s super-injunction order barring local media from reporting on the multi-million-ringgit corruption case implicating top leaders from Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam in deals with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

The order was revoked by Victoria’s Supreme Court today.

According to information obtained by Fairfax Media, the parent of The Age, the Malaysians suspected of receiving kickbacks from RBA subsidiaries, Securency and Note Printing Australia, are allegedly linked to Najib and Abdullah.

The report claimed that Putrajaya has so far disregarded attempts to secure details on the Malaysian middlemen involved in contracts awarded for the printing of polymer notes here between the late 1990s and 2009.

Abdullah was prime minister from 2003 to 2009, after which he stepped down for Najib to take over.

According to Fairfax Media, a high-ranking source in the Australian investigation said Putrajaya has blocked the requests for mutual information because senior Malaysian officials are suspected of involvement in the corruption.

Putrajaya’s refusal to co-operate has also ostensibly hindered Australian prosecutors’ case against former executives at the two RBA units.

Allegations of bribery in the polymer note deal traces back to 2003, when former prime minister Abdullah took office.

It was alleged that agents of the RBA subsidiaries dangled offers of up to RM100 million to secure the contract.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission launched a formal investigation in 2009, resulting in the arrests of eight people, including six former senior executives from the RBA units and an ex-assistant governor of Bank Negara Malaysia.

Abdullah previously categorised the allegations against him as unsubstantiated and false.

Besides the contract to supply the RM5 polymer notes, Securency also previously provided the commemorative RM50 notes issued for the 1998 Commonwealth Games hosted by Malaysia.

Today’s report is the third from abroad that implicates Malaysian officials of corruption.

Last month, The Age published reports alleging that MARA Inc officials engaged in corruption in the Malaysian firm’s purchase of property in Melbourne.

Separately, US daily the Wall Street Journal also published an exposé purporting that US$700 million from 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) ended up in personal bank accounts belonging to Najib.

Najib has denied taking money for personal gain and categorised the allegations as “political sabotage”.