Protesters demanding Prime Minister Najib Razak's resignation during a rally in Kuala Lumpur. Getty Images

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak said he channeled an anonymous $700 million donation to politicians and projects to help his ruling party win 2013 elections, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing an unnamed cabinet minister. "I took the money to spend for us," the unnamed minister quoted Najib as saying at a July meeting of senior leaders, the WSJ reported. The report noted that the spending by public entities to help Najib's United Malays National Organization stay in power was not illegal but "represented a new milestone in Malaysia's freewheeling electoral system." In July, the WSJ published a report alleging that nearly $700 million had flowed from Malaysia's state investment fund, 1MDB, to Najib's personal bank account.

Under pressure from the WSJ report, Najib said in August that the funds were a private donation from Middle Eastern country, which he declined to name. He has repeatedly denied wrong-doing. Expanding on its allegations, WSJ said on Tuesday that hundreds of millions worth of unreported political spending flowed from public sources or programs intended for other purposes, including at least $140 million that was spent on charity projects to boost the party's election chances. Some of this cash came from the troubled state investment fund, according to the WSJ. Minutes from 1MDB meetings indicated the fund prioritized political spending even when its cash flows couldn't cover its debt payments, the WSJ reported.