Thieves who are charitable are still thieves nonetheless, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said today, in what appeared to be a dig at Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's defence of 1MDB as a "charitable firm".

While he did not mention the state investment fund by name, Tuan Ibrahim described a scenario in which an unidentified firm was left saddled with debts while those it dealt with lived the high life.

"A pays to B, then B pays to C, C pays to D, and D is made up of good friends with links to A's general manager.

"A easily states that there is no abuse and no money is missing. For A argues it only deals with B, no matter whether B is a shell company or not.

"In short, what B did with A's money, is not A's problem, even if the money paid to B ended up with those close to the general manager of A, via C and D.

"In the end B,C and D live the high life, while only A is saddled with debts.

"And even when that is the case, there are those who praise A as a company that is charitable. But a charitable thief is still a thief," Tuan Ibrahim said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Najib reminded the public that 1MDB is a charitable company that has helped many Malaysians through its foundation, despite the many allegations against it.

However, Tuan Ibrahim said, like the mysterious 'Malaysian Official 1', there was no need to identify Company A.

'Failure of law enforcement in Malaysia'

What is happening today, he said, was the result of the failure of law enforcement in Malaysia, coupled with the application of political pressures that led to stopping investigators in their tracks and the disenchantment of the rakyat, who no longer feel that the country will ever see the 1MDB scandal truly exposed.

As a result of these developments, the PAS deputy president said, the frustrated people could not help but listen to and believe whatever the foreign investigations into 1MDB are reported to have found.

It is not their fault because they can no longer stomach the illogical and inconsistent excuses being bandied about by our own authorities on the matter that have befuddled their minds, as compared with the detailed investigations of foreign governments, Tuan Ibrahim said

He also warned that while countries like the US may seem to have a pure intention in fighting corruption on their shores, they may also have ulterior motives to interfere with and influence local events to their advantage.

In any case, Tuan Ibrahim joined the chorus of voices calling for a thorough Malaysian investigation into the 1MDB scandal and echoed calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to be formed so that Malaysians can finally get to the bottom of things.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) last week filed a civil suit to seize assets, including the proceeds to the award-winning movie ‘Wolf of Wall Street’, belonging to Naib's step-son Riza Aziz and controversial financier Jho Low, which it claimed were bought using cash embezzled and laundered through 1MDB.

Najib has denied culpability, though detractors pointed out that all the alleged money laundering occurred under his watch as then chairperson of the 1MDB board of advisers, and noted the uncanny similarities between his person and the 'Malaysian Official 1' stated but not named in the report.

Said to be related to Riza Aziz, the 'Malaysian Official 1' is mentioned 36 times in the DOJ filing and noted to be related to Riza, as well as having held a position of influence in 1MDB.

The prime minister, and the Umno leaders who came to his defence, contend that the suit was a civil one and not a criminal matter, contending that in any case, Najib's name was never stated.

However, critics argued that the civil suit was based on a criminal offence and that despite his name not being stated, Najib is not, as yet, absolved of any blame.