Cabinet minister Salleh Said Keruak does not believe that there is an international conspiracy against Malaysia, based on the lawsuits filed by the Unites States Department of Justice as well as various investigations launched into 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) by other attorney-generals.

“The word is not conspiracy. They (the attorney-generals of other countries) are doing their job. When there is a report, they handle it based on the laws and regulations of their country,” Salleh told reporters after an event at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) today.

On whether this had tarnished the country’s name, Salleh said it was the government’s job to explain the situation.

“As far as we are concerned in Malaysia, we have been handling (the 1MDB issue) quite well. We have allowed people to have their views.

“(Former prime minister) Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the opposition have their own views. And we explain things but they don't believe it. At the end of the day, it is all documented there for us to see,” he added.

Salleh pointed out how several allegations made had purportedly occurred in other countries as opposed to in Malaysia, citing transactions (allegedly linked to 1MDB) that had involved other countries.

“To be fair, let them continue to do their investigations, based on whatever laws under their jurisdiction,” he said.

The United States Department of Justice yesterday filed lawsuits seeking to seize assets bought with funds allegedly siphoned from 1MDB.

Commenting on the matter, Salleh said the attorney-general of the United States had only said that the matter was being looked into.

'They are more worried about the banking system'

“They have to make sure that money laundering shouldn't happen as it involves various other countries. They are more worried about the banking system. In the US, they are looking at that angle.

“Let them investigate. For us there is nothing to hide. As far as 1MDB is concerned, there has been the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report. We have deliberated on the matter and action will be taken based on the PAC report," Salleh said.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was cleared of any wrongdoing by attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali in the 1MDB scandal, was not named in the suits filed by the US Justice Department’s suit yesterday.

However, the lawsuits do claim that an unnamed individual – ‘Malaysian Official 1’ – had received hundreds of millions of dollars in siphoned 1MDB funds.

Responding to this, Salleh said it was merely a statement made by the complainant and that only three people were being investigated in the matter.

“It was very clear. The US attorney-general was very clear on the statement that they are not investigating anybody except the three individuals.

“Their concern is to make sure whoever was involved in the money laundering, action would be taken (and) the money to be returned back," he said.

On whether Malaysian authorities should investigate who ‘Malaysian Official 1’ is, Salleh merely reiterated that this was only a claim made by the complainant.

“(It’s) not what the AG said. The complainant said, but they have concluded they want to investigate three individuals only," he said.

On Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz who was identified by the US Justice Department in its civil forfeiture suit, Salleh stressed that the complaint has yet to be verified.

“There’s a process for them to investigate, it’s not fair for us to conclude that these three individuals already commited any offence.

“It’s not fair for us to conclude that they already committed an offence of money laundering, since this matter is being investigated,” he added.