Bukit Aman is in the process of verifying US federal investigation papers which indicate that 37-year-old Filipino orthopaedic surgeon Dr Russell Salic, linked to funds for Malaysia's first terror strike with Islamic State elements, has been found living in the Philippines.

The Malay Mail Online quoted inspector-general of police Fuzi Harun as saying that police are taking a serious view of an FBI report, part of the court filings, linked to the grenade attack on the Movida nightclub in Puchong on June 28 last year.

"Actually, we have no details about this, and we cannot say yes or no, except we may need to interview Dr Salic to get further details.

"We will check and investigate because this is an allegation, a very serious matter. I cannot confirm at this moment,” he was reported as saying.

“That one is a long process, not an easy process,” he said when asked whether Bukit Aman would seek to extradite Salic.

Salic has been under police custody in the Philippines since April, where he is expected to face a series of terror charges, including the abduction of six Filipino sawmill workers and the beheading of two of them last year.

Several news agencies in the US, UK and the Philippines have reportedly cited US federal court filings that named Salic – also said to be known as "Abu Khalid" or "The Doctor" – as the financier of numerous other global terror activities.

It was reported in The Manila Times yesterday that Salic had transferred sums ranging from US$180 to US$583 to several countries between February 2015 and June 2016, including Malaysia, Australia, Syria and Lebanon.

Salic was also reported to have wired US$426.30 to a man named Jasanizam Rosni in Johor on June 24, 2016, four days before the Movida grenade blast that left eight injured.

In the week following the attack, Malaysian police arrested 15 suspects in connection with terror-linked activities, while seeking information on Jasanizam and one other individual.

Jasanizam was eventually arrested, charged and sentenced to three years’ jail for plotting an attack on a temple and nightclubs in Johor Bahru between June 27 and July 2 last year.