The draft letter was discovered in a steel cabinet during a high-level raid by senior police officers from Bukit Aman’s CCID on the fifth floor of the Prime Minister’s Office in Perdana Putra last Wednesday. — AFP pic

PETALING JAYA, May 19 — In a raid on the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya on Wednesday, the police found a three-year-old copy of a drafted letter addressed to former attorney-general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail.

The draft letter, titled “Investigations on 1MDB and other collateral issues to YBhg Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail” and dated July 27, 2015, may shed light on the current investigations and also the past probe that saw Abdul Gani immediately replaced by Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali who was at that time a Federal Court judge. Apandi has since been put on garden leave.

Malay Mail learnt that the draft letter was discovered together with other 1Malaysia Development Berhad-related (1MDB) documents that were kept in a steel cabinet during a high-level raid by senior police officers from Bukit Aman’s Commercial Crimes Investigations Department (CCID) on the fifth floor of the Prime Minister’s Office in Perdana Putra, Putrajaya last Wednesday night.

Other documents seized were copies of a 13-point document related to the 1MDB case dated July 2015 and also another undated document titled “Three Concerns on 1MDB”.

The documents were in a locked steel cabinet located inside a room that had been used by Datuk Seri Iskandar Mohd Kaus, the former principal confidential secretary of ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Malay Mail understands the search and seizure was made following a police report lodged with the Dang Wangi police station last Wednesday, May 16.

Police have classified the case under Section 409 of the Penal Code for criminal breach of trust by a public servant.

Police are seen in the lobby of luxury apartment building Pavilion Residences on Jalan Raja Chulan in Kuala Lumpur May 17, 2018. — Bernama pic

The highly-publicised police raids were simultaneously conducted by Bukit Aman’s CCID teams on Najib’s official and personal residences, where other valuables, cash and jewellery were seized.

Najib has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing relating to the 1MDB scandal and was cleared by Apandi while in office. He is currently being investigated on the matter under the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Several countries, including the United States, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg are investigating the alleged misappropriation of over US$4.5 billion from 1MDB, founded by Najib.

The US Department of Justice has launched a criminal probe and filed civil lawsuits seeking to recover about US$1.7 billion in assets said to have been bought with stolen 1MDB funds.

News of the scandal surfaced since 2015 after reports that about US$700 million in misappropriated 1MDB funds flowed into Najib’s personal bank account.— Picture by Azneal Ishak

News of the scandal surfaced since 2015 after reports that about US$700 million in misappropriated 1MDB funds flowed into Najib’s personal bank account.

However, Apandi cleared Najib of any offence, saying the funds were a donation from the Saudi royal family.

Current Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the govern­ment would work towards recovering funds belonging to 1MDB from abroad.

Dr Mahathir returned to office after his Pakatan Harapan alliance defeated the Barisan Nasional coalition that had been led by Najib in the May 9 general election.