KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — The alleged Malaysian officials who leaked confidential information related to an ongoing investigation on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) will face the full brunt of the law, the Attorney-General (AG) warned today.

Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail stressed that the leak – which lead to an exposé by the WSJ last week claiming that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) had been funnelled via 1MDB into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts – is a criminal offence under the Financial Services Act, Islamic Financial Services Act and the Penal Code.

1MDB Chief Executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy speaks to journalists at Menara IMC, 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office, in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa 1MDB Chief Executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy speaks to journalists at Menara IMC, 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office, in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa Officers from the special task force remove a CPU and a box from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office at Menara IMC in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa Officers from the special task force remove a CPU and a box from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office at Menara IMC in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa Officers from the special task force remove a CPU and a box from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office at Menara IMC in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa Officers from the special task force remove a CPU and a box from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office at Menara IMC in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa Reporters wait outside 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa Reporters waiting outside 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office, in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Ida Lim Police van and cars are seen parked at Menara IMC, 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa Police van parked at Menara IMC, 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office, in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Ida Lim Previous Next

“The Attorney General stressed that this was not a question of whistle-blowing because the matter is already under investigation. A further concern was that the documents were allegedly leaked from within the investigation itself,” read a statement issued by the AG’s Chambers.

“The Attorney General also clarified that the freeze orders issued on 6 July 2015 did not involve any accounts allegedly held by the Prime Minister,” the statement added.

Yesterday, the WSJ claimed that the bank accounts ordered frozen by Malaysian authorities probing the alleged US$700 million transfer from 1MDB to Najib were different from the accounts mentioned in the US paper’s earlier story.

Abdul Gani today stressed that the documents cited in WSJ’s latest claim regarding the frozen bank accounts were the subject-matter of an investigation and stressed that it was “crucial to preserve the integrity of the investigation” to bolster public confidence in the probe.

“The Attorney General also expressed his concern at the insinuations and allegations that have been made linking him to certain political agenda. He stressed that the whole purpose of establishing an inter-agency Special Task Force to investigate the matter was to ensure that there could be no abuse of the investigation mechanism,” the statement said.

On Saturday, Abdul Gani confirmed that a special task force comprising his office, Bank Negara Malaysia, the police and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, had started investigations into the allegations made by WSJ and that raids had already been carried out on three companies implicated in the report.

Police van and cars are seen parked at Menara IMC, 1Malaysia Development Berhad's office in Kuala Lumpur, July 8, 2015. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

Earlier today, the task force raided 1MDB’s office in Kuala Lumpur, with the state-owned company confirming that documents have been confiscated by investigators.

The investigators are understood to still be at the state investor’s office at Menara IMC at the time of writing.

In a report last Friday, the WSJ, citing documents from Malaysian investigators currently scrutinising the troubled 1MDB’s financials, claimed that a money trail showed that US$700 million were moved between government agencies, banks and companies before it ended up in Najib’s accounts.

Najib has denied taking funds from 1MDB for “personal gain” and his lawyers have since asked the WSJ to state if the newspaper is accusing the prime minister of misappropriating funds.

Aside from the special taskforce, 1MDB is also under investigation by the Auditor-General’s Department and Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee.