The Malay right-wing group Perkasa today welcomed the freeze of six bank accounts over the alleged channelling of funds into the prime minister’s accounts.

Its president, Ibrahim Ali, said the information could help ease anxiety and expressed the hope that the people would not engage in speculation until the special task force had completed its investigation.

“Perkasa hopes that the investigation will be truly transparent and the outcome of the investigation will be made public,” he said in a statement.

The announcement on the freezing of the six bank accounts of people believed to be involved in the case was made jointly by attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail; Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz; inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Abu Kassim Mohamed.

They said the task force also took possession of documents related to 17 accounts from two banks yesterday to aid the investigation.

“The special task force also took possession of documents over the issue of the banks’ non-compliance with Bank Negara Malaysia rules and regulations,” they said in the statement.

The statement did not mention the names of the account holders or the banks.

It said: “The investigation is ongoing. As such, the special task force urges all quarters to offer full cooperation for the investigation to be completed.”

Last Friday, The Wall Street Journal published a report claiming that almost US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) of funds from government investment company 1MDB had been channelled to personal bank accounts of the prime minister.

On the same day, the Prime Minister’s Office dismissed the WSJ report and said it was a political sabotage to topple a democratically-elected prime minister.

1MDB also stated that it had never channelled funds to Najib Abdul Razak.

- Bernama