SINGAPORE (June 26): The special officer to Malaysia’s ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak has been arrested on Sunday by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), according to The Edge Financial Daily.
The special officer was allegedly tasked to implement a social media strategy to promote Barisan Nasional (BN) along with Najib. His official responsibility in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), back when Najib was Prime Minister, was for economic policy and budget.
Previously from Bank Negara, the special officer joined the PMO in 2009 under the recommendation of the late Datuk Azlin Alias, who was the head of Najib’s economic policy team. Following Azlin’s death from a helicopter crash, the special officer took over Azlin’s role as head of the team.
Sources say that the 42-year-old officer received more than RM62 million ($21 million) from Najib. The money allegedly originated from the scandal-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) account.
Investigations revealed that 1MDB paid the money to Orb Solutions Sdn Bhd from 2011 to 2014.
The unnamed special officer is also a director and joint shareholder of Orb Solutions, a provider of web management and communication strategies solutions that was formed in 2010, according to company records.
A government officer being a shareholder of a private company may be a breach of civil service conduct.
The special officer will be remanded by the MACC for seven days to aid in the government’s investigations into 1MDB and SRC International.
Orb Solutions is just one of many recipients of cash from Najib’s AmBank account where more than RM3 billion was found to have been transferred from 1MDB accounts.
Investigations on 1MDB are still ongoing and sources say that those who have received money from Najib’s AmBank account will be called up. More arrests are expected as the investigations progress.
