MACC chief commissioner Datuk Sri Mohd Shukri Abdull (centre) arrives at Ilham Tower in Kuala Lumpur May 21, 2018. — Picture by Azneal Ishak

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced today the creation of a special team to investigate the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal that sees the return of former Attorney-General (AG) Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail and former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed.

The team also includes the new MACC chief commissioner Datuk Sri Mohd Shukri Abdull and former Special Branch Deputy Director Abdul Hamid Bador.

The composition mirrors that of the abortive special task force established in the wake of the a 2015 Wall Street Journal report alleging that funds from 1MDB were misappropriated and with at least half allegedly transferred into former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank account.

Later that year, the task force began faltering and was eventually halted following reports that officials named in the report were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Abdul Gani was unceremoniously removed as AG, purportedly for health reasons, and replaced by Tan Sri Apandi Ali who remains in the position only in name after he was put on garden leave last week.

Najib also sacked Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as his deputy and dropped Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal from his Cabinet. Both men later allied themselves with Dr Mahathir in his effort to force Najib from office.

Dr Mahathir is on an apparent warpath over 1MDB and the task force is the latest government instrument that he has deployed over the corruption scandal surrounding the state investment firm that is the brainchild of the defeated Najib.

The prime minister has met with several personalities involved in exposing the scandal, including former Petrosaudi International executive Xavier Andre Justo and Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown.

Najib has been ordered to present himself at the MACC headquarters in Putrajaya tomorrow for questioning over 1MDB and its subsidiaries.