COMMENT Malaysian attorney-general (AG) Mohamed Apandi Ali’s immediate response to his Swiss counterpart Michael Lauber with promises of full cooperation over criminal investigations on the 1MDB scandal, is likely to be mere lip service.

This observation is derived from the fact that ever since his abrupt and controversial appointment as AG by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in late July 2015, he has played the role of an obstructer rather than facilitator in unravelling the 1MDB-related scandals that have fatally maimed Najib’s reputation and rocked his government.

Almost immediately upon taking over from his predecessor, Abdul Gani Patail, who was shockingly and dubiously sacked by Najib - apparently for his diligence to nab culprits - Apandi discreetly disbanded the multi-agency special task force (led earlier by Gani) probing the twin scandals of 1MDB’s mega frauds and the mysterious deposit of US$681 million (RM2.6 billion; US$1 = RM3.8 in 2015) into Najib’s personal bank account.

Since then, investigations into 1MDB have all but stalled, with the Malaysian police - which was assigned specifically to probe the sovereign investment fund - showing more zeal in harassing whistleblowers and investigators, rather than catching the con men and criminals who have precipitated the multi-billion embezzlement in 1MDB.

Apandi’s overt zeal to protect the premier is most dramatically demonstrated in his shocking announcement on Jan 26, exonerating Najib from any criminal culpability over his US$681 million deposit on grounds of being a personal donation from the Saudi royal family, and the RM42 million channelled from Najib’s Finance Ministry (being also the finance minister) to his personal bank accounts on grounds of his ignorance of the fund’s source.

Whereupon, Apandi ordered the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to close these cases, which it has been probing since March 2015.

But the catch is: the MACC had already declared earlier that its investigations on the US$681 million was incomplete, as it had yet to secure banking statements in foreign countries to fully construct the US$681 million’s money trail, which will prove conclusively the real source of such funds.

However, the MACC could not gain access to those foreign bank documents due to AG Apandi withholding his consent to them using the facilities of the Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) to obtain those documents, on grounds that he had already sufficient evidence from the MACC’s report to conclude that the money was a donation and that there was no element of corruption.

Premature for AG Apandi to close cases

But who is he to pronounce the evidence as conclusive when the MACC had already declared it was insufficient to ascertain the source of the funds? Apandi’s decision is hence, manifestly premature, defective and a transgression of justice.

It is not difficult to see why Apandi had refused permission for the MACC to utilise the MLA, for that would have enabled the true source of the money to be established - which is most definitely not the Saudi royal family , a story that no one believes.

In fact, the Saudi story is so far-fetched that not even Najib himself has found the courage to publicly declare that the money was a donation - much less, a donation from the Saudi royal family.

All this while, the varying swirling tales on the source and purpose of said funds have always been proclaimed by third parties who are Najib’s loyalists, but never for once did Najib himself say so. The nearest to a confession that Najib has made is that the money was not for personal gain . But from whom, for what, and where the money went - we have had only silence from him.

With regard to Apandi’s claim that the two issues of the 1MDB scandal and the US$681 million deposited in Najib’s account are completely separated and unrelated to each other, my simple reply is: if the US$681 million didn’t come from 1MDB, then where is it from? Needless to say, the only logical way to settle the score is to let the MACC go overseas to trace the money trail.

Talking about money trails, the Swiss findings revealing US$4 billion of misappropriation from 1MDB that the Swiss AG would be sending to various Malaysian agencies soon may provide valuable clues to the intricate process through which these massive financial frauds took place.

It may even throw useful light on the source of US$681 million as the Swiss investigations centred on the various Swiss banks involved with 1MDB’s corrupt dealings - one of which, tiny Falcon Private Bank AG , was used to send said US$681 million to Najib’s account (1MDB’s multi-billion dealings were done through these tiny Swiss banks, which by itself is telling on the dubious nature of its operations).

It is hoped that the MACC - who will also be receiving such information from the Swiss soon - will grasp this valuable opportunity to soldier on and complete its historical task to fully unravel this 1MDB scorch.

The 1MDB and US$681 million saga has gone to a stage where any prolongation of the current nonsensical drama would inflict a high price on the nation’s political and economic wellbeing.

It must end with the rule of law reasserting itself to restore domestic and international confidence, and the first thing that must happen is to replace the current AG (who has the sole power to decide whether to prosecute or not to prosecute) with someone who enjoys public confidence.

KIM QUEK is the author of banned book 'The March to Putrajaya'.