Since attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali is contemplating attending or sending his officers for the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) forfeiture hearing in the United States, it shows that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is not involved.

"In lieu of that, it appears the government of Malaysia, through the AG, will get more details on the matter via a watching brief," the prime minister’s lawyer, Mohd Hafarizam Harun, said today.

"So the PM is not involved as the AG is acting on behalf of the government of Malaysia and not for the PM. I am not instructed to appear for the PM in lieu of that," he told reporters.