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PETALING JAYA: Was the former Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, really in the dark about the RM2.6 billion transferred to former Prime Minister Najib Razak’s personal account? Or did she know everything?
That’s the question that has arisen after a shocking revelation that his family members had received money from 1MDB funds.
Zeti’s husband and two children, in fact, admitted to knowing the money in legal statements signed in March last year. The money was in the accounts of Cutting Edge Industries in Singapore and all three admitted to being the ultimate beneficiaries of the accounts.
The statutory statements, seen by FMT, have been certified as authentic by the attorneys who attended them.
The SD disclosures came as the MalaysiaToday portal, run by blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, claimed that Zeti’s husband and children received more than RM 100 million in funding from fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, the mastermind. behind the 1MDB scandal.
The claims were supported by legal statements in which Zeti’s husband and children admitted to receiving funds in their Singapore bank accounts. The money came from a company linked to Jho Low.
Najib himself has taken to Facebook to pressure Zeti to respond, claiming that it was Zeti who recommended opening a bank account in his name and not Umno’s to receive “Arab donations.” He also claimed that he had asked him to monitor his account for suspicious transactions.
In July 2018, Zeti had denied Najib’s claims that he was aware of the 2.6 billion ringgit, which Najib said was a donation from the Saudi royal family to the government, going into his personal account.
Najib has demanded an explanation from Zeti, claiming that it was the then central bank governor who advised him to open a personal account to receive the money.
“How can the BNM governor not know when billions are transferred to the prime minister’s account, since every major transaction requires BNM approval?” Najib asked in a Facebook post.
Meanwhile, SD claims that Zeti’s husband and children had agreed to a deal with the Singapore government to return the money in their accounts to 1MDB in exchange for Singapore dropping the investigations. Article 370 of the Singapore Code of Criminal Procedure, which governs the seizure of property, was mentioned in the SD.
Zeti’s husband, Dr. Tawfiq Ayman, and their sons, Abdul Aziz and Alif Ayman Aziz, manage the accounts of Singapore-based Cutting Edge Industries Ltd.
According to the MalaysiaToday report, the money in the accounts came from Iron Rhapsody Ltd, which was established to receive money from Jho Low. The registered owners of Iron Rhapsody are allegedly Zeti’s husband and their two children.
In addition to Najib, PKR President Anwar Ibrahim and the National Association of Patriots have asked Zeti to explain the matter.
FMT is still trying to reach Zeti, the president of Permodalan Nasional Bhd, for comment.
