KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) will soon call up former prime minister Najib Razak over the ongoing investigation into embattled state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) chief Amar Singh on Friday (Sep 28) said that the police required information from Najib to complete the investigation.



To date, he said, the police have recorded more than 70 statements from multiple individuals and that Najib will be called again to have his statement recorded.

“Apart from Najib, I also want to confirm that the police called former 1MDB chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy last Tuesday in relation to his public talks on 1MDB that were held in May before the general elections,” he said.

Speaking at a media conference, Amar Singh also denied allegations that the police misappropriated any money recovered during the raids of residences linked to Najib.

JUST IN: The director of Malaysia’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department denies police took any money recovered from raids linked to Najib Razak in the #1MDB probe. UMNO has filed a suit based on a report lodged by Najib. pic.twitter.com/ITbcLxJZxz — Sumisha Naidu (@sumishanaidu) September 28, 2018



Amar Singh confirmed that the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) is taking legal action, alleging that more than RM43 million (US$10.4 million) belonging to them went missing during a police raid on Pavilion Residences in May. UMNO has filed a suit based on a report lodged by Najib.

Amar Singh said Najib only came forward with a complaint after the police held a news conference, where they announced the amount seized on May 25.

Amar Singh says Najib Razak only came forward with a complaint after a news conference by the cops announcing the amount seized on May 25 and could not justify how there could be RM160mil - and not RM114mil as reported by police - at Pavilion residences. https://t.co/9L3nlzGBTY — Sumisha Naidu (@sumishanaidu) September 28, 2018

If any money went missing at all, Amar Singh said, it likely happened when the cash was transferred to Pavilion Residences two days after UMNO and Barisan Nasional lost the May 9 general election.

When asked for his thoughts on the story of the 1MDB scandal being made into a movie, Amar Singh quipped: “Probably they need to call me to act in the part about the raids.”

“Probably they need to call me to act in the part about the raids”. Asked Amar Singh how he feels about a movie being made about #1MDB - a case he’s currently investigating. He’s about to start reading #BillionDollarWhale. pic.twitter.com/lGpjlKNyi2 — Sumisha Naidu (@sumishanaidu) September 28, 2018

Najib was charged last week with 25 counts of money laundering and abuse of power, bringing the total number of charges he faces to 32. Najib has denied all charges.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim on Thursday said that Najib could face several more charges.

He also said that the police will soon call up Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, to assist in the investigation into the seizure of jewellery, some of which belonged to her. The items are believed to be related to the 1MDB case.

Rosmah herself was questioned for about 13 hours by Malaysia's anti-graft agency on Wednesday.

Additional reporting by Sumisha Naidu.