COMMENT | Honestly, I see no logic in arguments raised yesterday by Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein against the US Department of Justice (DOJ) case. Why should he challenge the DOJ to press charges if they have proof of wrongdoing in the 1MDB affair?

The DOJ will not be bothered by such a challenged (they may think it is coming from a minion), as they deal with facts, and not politics.

In fact, it took so long before the DOJ named Malaysian Official 1's wife. So, when they have concrete evidence and the MO1 leaves office, they would surely go after MO1 and his wife to recover all that is paid for using money believed to be from 1MDB.

The dots

The moment I read about the pink diamond necklace worth US$27.3 million, which was bought using the money allegedly siphoned from 1MDB, I could not help but link it with one person who has a penchant for diamond rings and Birkin bags.

When MO1 was cited in the DOJ's first court filing, there were links that made it very obvious who MO1 is. One has to refer to the document published by the DOJ on its website to make the connections:

On item 28, it was stated: "Malaysian Official 11 is a high-ranking official in the Malaysian government who also held a position of authority with 1MDB. During all times relevant to the complaint, Malaysian Official 11 was a "public official" as that term is used in 18 U.S.C. § 1956(c)(7)(B)(iv) and a "public servant" as that term is used in Section 21 of the Malaysian Penal Code."

Item 29 further stated: "Riza Shahriz Bin Abdul Aziz ("Aziz"), a Malaysian national, is a relative of Malaysian Official 1 and a friend of Low. He co-founded Red Granite Pictures, a Hollywood movie production and distribution studio, in 2010."

Now, the wife of MO1 is also described in the DOJ's filing. As pointed out by the minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan to BBC, MO1 has been identified as Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Therefore, what Hishammuddin said in his press conference about MO1 is simply a denial that does not hold water.

Why silence on MO1?

The world is waiting to see what Prime Minister Najib Razak has to say about MO1. To date, he has not denied Abdul Rahman's claim about him being MO1. Neither has he identified who Riza's relative, as mentioned in the DOJ's civil suit earlier on, is.

Human nature is very strange. When a secret is unravelled, as in the case of the parents and teachers association (PIBG) chairman in my son's school, the response is simply evasive. In short, the guilt feeling is there.

In that particular case, when asked if he had agreed with the local education district office about a certain controversy, he did not admit or deny it. Instead, he kept beating around the bush.

Therefore, what we see in MO1's response is not unusual. It is safer to remain silent, but silence is not golden when the 1MDB scandal has already hit headlines worldwide.

With time, MO1's loss of public credibility will only become a major liability for the coalition that he is heading.

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

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.