Datuk Seri Najib Razak says information on the bonus and incentive payouts made to 1MDB’s chief executives and directors is deemed private and confidential by law. ― File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 20 ― Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has declined a request to reveal the bonus and incentive payouts made to 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) chief executives and directors, saying the information is deemed private and confidential by law.

Najib, who is also finance minister, noted that the state investment firm is registered under the Companies Act 1965, which he said renders confidential any employment contract signed between the firm and its employees.

“1MDB is a company formed under the Companies Act 1965, whereby any deals involving 1MDB is private and confidential, including the employment contracts between the company and its workers,” the written reply to Kampar MP Dr Ko Chung Sen read.

Dr Ko had asked the ministry to state the sum paid as annual incentives and bonuses paid to 1MDB’s chief executives as well as its directors since the firm’s inception in 2009.

Najib is currently facing pressure over the multi-billion ringgit 1MDB controversy, which opposition MPs are using to seek for a no confidence vote against him in Parliament.

The RM2.6 billion figure first surfaced through US-based paper Wall Street Journal’s report in July on the findings of government investigators of a money trail of this amount ending in Najib’s accounts.

Najib has said that he has not taken public funds for personal gain, but the RM2.6 billion controversy has remained the centre of media and public attention.

The RM2.6 billion was later declared to be a donation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) from Middle Eastern donors whose identities were not revealed, however.

The fund is the subject of an ongoing MACC probe, and the agency had previously stated that it would be calling Najib for an investigation.

It also refused to state when the prime minister would be called in.