Kinabatangan MP Bung Moktar Radin has defended Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak over the allegation by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad that the prime minister was lying about the whereabouts US$1.103 billion (RM3.97 billion) belonging to 1MDB.

“Our prime minister did not lie, nor did he have the intention to lie. Maybe it’s because that the information given initially was inaccurate, that’s why the government was trying to correct it.

“This shows that Najib ( photo ) was honest in carrying out his duty as a prime minister and finance minister,” Bung Moktar said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

On Sunday, Mahathir referred to Najib’s parliamentary reply on March 10 where the prime minister said the amount had been fully redeemed in the form of cash and was now being kept at the BSI Bank Limited, Singapore.

However, last Thursday, Najib, who is also the finance minister, changed his answer on that matter stating that there was no 1MDB cash in BSI Singapore, but merely 'assets in US dollars'.

What 'units'?

The clarification became even more baffling when Finance Minister II Husni Hanadzlah explained the assets were, in fact, in the form of  'units' but refused to explain what he meant by the hitherto unknown financial term.

 

Mahathir had then described this as a ' cover-up ' of government matters and said it was an offence under Section 218 of the Penal Code.

Several criminal law practitioners agreed with Mahathir that Najib’s conflicting answers on 1MDB could be a crime.

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