DAP lawmaker Tony Pua has asked if the government issued a third "secret" letter of support for 1MDB, based on revelations by the latest United States Department of Justice (DOJ) civil suit.

In March 2016, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who is also finance minister, said only two letters of support were issued by the government for 1MDB's US$3 billion bond in 2013 and its US$150 million borrowing from Exim Bank in 2015.

"However, we have since discovered, via information provided by the latest DOJ filing to seize assets acquired with funds laundered from 1MDB, that there exists another secret 'letter of support' to borrow US$975 million from a Deutsche Bank-led consortium in September 2014," Pua told a press conference in Parliament today.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said the DOJ suit had claimed that “Malaysian Official 1” (MO1) "on behalf of the government of Malaysia, provided a letter of support to Deutsche Bank in connection with the US$975 million loan".

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan had previously said that MO1 referred to Najib.

Pua said he was also concerned over another passage in the DOJ suit which stated that "internal Deustche Bank records reflect that 1MDB officials opted to provide a letter of support signed by MO1, rather than some form of guarantee by 1MDB... at least in part because a letter of support did not require Bank Negara or cabinet approval".

The DOJ suit also states that "at the request of 1MDB, all references to the letter of support were removed from the facility agreement".

"This raises the question as to whether Najib had issued the letter without the cabinet's approval or for that matter, without the knowledge of the Finance Ministry, which would be a clear cut abuse of power by the prime minister," Pua said.

He intends to discuss this matter with former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is now the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president, to see if such a letter was ever brought up in the cabinet.

"If not, then the attorney-general must commence immediate investigations over the possible criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and even fraud against Najib," he said.

Like the two other letters of support, Pua said it is likely that in this third letter, the government had agreed on financial support to 1MDB to ensure the company's ability to repay the loan.

He said he had submitted a question about the existence of this third letter in this parliamentary session but it had been rejected on the basis that it was a "presumably questionable assumption".

"There was no assumption in my question. I had asked a simple matter as to whether there was indeed a 'letter of support' issued in September 2014.

"If there isn't, just say no. What's so difficult?" he said.

Malaysiakini is seeking a response from Najib's aide, Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani, 1MDB chairperson Irwan Serigar Abdullah and president Arul Kanda Kandsamy.