COMMENT So, the Affin bank account belongs to Rosmah Mansor, wife of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak after all!

This truth is finally coming out after all the denials by one Roslan Sohari; now, it is clear the account belonged to Rosmah.

If not for Sarawak Report which exposed this, most Malaysians might still be in the dark over a number of things. Although we could only speculate, evidence was not there.

After the expose was made, even the task force investigating into 1MDB acknowledged that they knew about the aware of Rosmah Mansor’s bank account some time ago.

It took the international media to wake us up. With The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) expose recently, we also learnt that the humongous amount of RM2.6 billion was transferred into the private bank accounts belonging to Najib.

Source of the money

Where I am concerned, after the money was banked into Rosmah’s account, I am not interested to know whether the money had come from 1MDB, but as rakyat, we deserve to know whose money it had belonged to and why it was banked into Rosmah’s account instead of mine!

What made Rosmah so special that she could be a recipient of the amount of money? Why was the money banked in by Roslan, instead of being transferred through the usual banking channel?

Was it to avoid detection by Bank Negara? If yes, could Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz tell us the outcome of the investigation being conducted? Was the allegation that RM2 million was deposited into Rosmah’s account true or a lie? Was this the only amount or could there be much more?

If the money was a gift from someone, who is it from? Was Roslan hauled up for the investigation? Did the money come from Najib, Nazir Razak or perhaps someone else within the family? On what basis was the money banked into the account?

Is this only the tip of the iceberg? How much money is in the Affin account before and after the money was deposited? Besides the Affin account, has Rosmah been queried about her other accounts?

What actions did the task force take, despite knowing much earlier about the Rosmah’s account before the expose by Sarawak Report?

Where are the actions?

For that huge amount of money to be deposited into one account, was Bank Negara alerted about it?

Did Bank Negara investigate Rosmah’s other bank accounts and alert the relevant departments to investigate further?

Why was the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) not alerted so that they could carry out investigations to determine how the money came about? Or did they in the first place carry out any investigation before the Sawarak Report highlighted the story? If yes, what is the story?

As the wife of the Malaysian prime minister, how much could the couple be earning to allow Rosmah to go on shopping sprees overseas?

Even though Rosmah could claim that these goods were given to her as gifts, what are the standard operating procedures set up by the government to ensure that gifts are properly declared?

With all the exposes, one after another, the amount of money totalled up appears to be far more than what an ordinary couple, including even the sitting prime minister and his wife, could afford in the life time. Where did the money come from?

Like former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said, did the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) probe into the luxury lifestyle of Rosmah? Would the IRB please reveal how much taxes does Najib pay every year?

Has Rosmah revealed to the IRB the source of the money banked into her account? We are equally interested to know if the IRB has investigated into the case especially since the task force appears to have some knowledge about this expose. If not, why not?

The IRB has sent me and my wife one letter after another, and this is over hard-earned money by comparison, but to date, has the IRB investigated this case involving such a huge sum of money which had gone into Rosmah’s account?

With the kind of handbags that she has purchased, or in her possession, and all the money that we see her spending away on her shopping spree, is she living beyond her income or the income earned by husband?

There is no reason why the IRB should remain silent over Rosmah’s flamboyant lifestyle, while going after others who are nothing but small fries.

Certainly Malaysians deserve to know a lot more about their leaders, especially one who claims to be there by the people’s choice.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.