MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan said it has never been conventional practice for political funding to be deposited into the party president's private bank account and held in trust for the party.

Ong said this is to draw the line between the interests of the party and an individual, and to prevent the money from being used for personal interest.

The international trade and industry minister II said the MCA would be helpless if funds for the party were put into personal use and then the person later denies having the fund.

Ong was rebutting the statement by Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor ( photo ), who defended the controversial RM2.6 billion which went into Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's private bank accounts by emphasising that this “is a common practice”.

Ong is quoted by Oriental Daily as saying: "I don't take this personally. If the (money goes into) a personal account, it is beyond our control then. If the account holder denies it, what can you do?"

He noted that since MCA's inception, it has been the convention to channel funds for the party into the party's account.

It would be difficult to trace the source of the funding if they were held by the leaders, he added.

On July 3, The Wall Street Journal and whistleblower website Sarawak Report revealed that RM2.6 billion went into Najib's account.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said on Aug 5 that the RM2.6 billion deposited into Naib's account was a donation from the Middle East.

Withdrawals need party approval

In MCA, according to Ong, any withdrawal of funds from the party account needs the approval from the party through a meeting.

Asked if MCA would suggest to the BN that funds should be channelled into the accounts of respective parties, he said it was not necessary as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had sent similar messages.

Ong also said that MCA would always defend the independence of the MACC.

"We have a simple principle, that MACC must be able to operate independently, without interference," he said.

MACC special operations director Bahri Mohamad Yusof and its strategic communications director Rohaizad Yaakob ( photo ) were transferred to the Prime Minister's Department on short notice.

Bahri and his division was investigating SRC International Sdn Bhd over the 1MDB issue, while Rohaizad received a visit from a group of opposition leaders at the Putrajaya MACC headquarters and had a dialogue session with them.

However, Chief Secretary to the Government Ali Hamsa, who had reinstated them in the MACC, denied that the transfers were related to their investigation into 1MDB.

MACC is investigating SRC International Sdn Bhd on claims that RM4 billion was injected into it from the Pensioners Fund (KWAP). It is also looking into allegations that SRC channelled RM42 million into Najib's personal accounts.