Najib had earlier said that Amar Singh was not qualified to take on probes related to 1MDB. — Picture by Firdaus Latif

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak is free to speculate on the competency of Datuk Seri Amar Singh Ishar Singh to take on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investigations, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) said today.

This comes following claims by Najib that the Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director was not qualified to take on probes related to 1MDB.

Najib has filed a lawsuit against Amar, saying the latter was not qualified to become an advisor of the 1MDB task force and that his integrity could be disputed.

IGP Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said today police have not received any official request for an explanation over Najib’s claims.

“That’s him (Najib) saying. He can say all sorts of things... Let him say anything he wants... But we have not received any official request for an explanation so far.

“If there is a need, we will prepare a response accordingly. So let’s wait and see,” he told reporters after attending the Police Corporation Annual meeting here.

Besides naming Amar, Najib has also implicated the Attorney-General (AG), Tommy Thomas and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Mohd Syukri Abdull, as not ‘qualified’.

Najib alleged that in July 2016, Thomas, who was not the AG then, wrote an article entitled, “Grand Larceny 1MDB”, which concluded that the money deposited into Najib's personal bank account was actually 1MDB's money.

He said Thomas' stance clearly revealed he did not “like” him (Najib). This had made Najib concerned that Thomas would still find a way to press a charge against him for any reason.

He further claimed the article had clearly showed that Thomas did not have his “own stand” and lacked appropriate judgement.

Meanwhile, Najib also stressed that at a press conference held on SRC International by Mohd Syukri, had summarised, among others, that he (Najib) had received RM42mil and also RM2.6bil, when at that time, Najib had yet to be called to give a statement at MACC.

He alleged that the media statement by Mohd Syukri was “emotional” and “vengeful” in nature.

The plaintiff said Mohd Syukri should be neutral pending the completion of the investigation, but instead chose to punish without “solid grounds”. This made Najib feel that he would not have a fair and transparent investigation.

On Amar, he said the raids conducted at various premises, including at Pavilion Residences, was not in accordance to Standard Operating Procedure and several police reports had been lodged over that.

Najib said Amar’s integrity could be disputed, and he believed that the latter was not qualified to become an advisor to the special 1MDB task force.

Thomas, Mohd Syukri and Amar had originating summons (ex-parte) filed separately against each of them at the Kuala Lumpur High Court via the law firm Badrul, Samad, Faik & Co on June 28.

Najib named all three of them as the respondents in his lawsuit, besides seeking costs and other reliefs.

Amar, Thomas and Mohd Syukri have yet to comment on the matter.