INTERVIEW | How could superyacht, the Equanimity, have been bought with 1MDB funds if the firm hasn't lost any monies, asks Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Razali Ibrahim.

"1MDB says it hasn't lost its funds, so how can people make the accusation that the boat was bought using 1MDB funds," Razali told Malaysiakini during an interview in Muar on Saturday.

The Equanimity was seized in Bali last week by Indonesian police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Details regarding 1MDB-linked businessperson Jho Low purchasing the yacht using US$250 million of allegedly stolen 1MDB funds was first revealed in the third US Department of Justice (DOJ) civil forfeiture suit involving the firm in June last year.

1MDB, in a response then, said there was no proof to support the allegations made in the DOJ's suits.

Razali said such allegations regarding the Equanimity by the opposition were an attempt to incite the people in order to secure votes.

"When people become angry, they get votes.

"So they will form a government built on anger, just like in Egypt and Libya," he said, referring to the instability suffered by the two countries following the Arab Spring revolutions in 2010.

Meanwhile, the deputy minister, whose portfolio includes oversight of the MACC, said the graft-buster was still probing 1MDB.

"We are still investigating several matters regarding 1MDB, but we need outside assistance," he said.

He did not elaborate on the matter.

There have been no reports thus far of Malaysia requesting or granting mutual legal assistance to other countries, such as Switzerland, that have launched their own 1MDB investigations.

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