An Amanah leader has reminded former premier Najib Razak BN’s sensational loss at the 14th general election was based on facts, not opposition slander as claimed.

“Najib should really be more honest in defending himself against ongoing investigations (into 1MDB), and not lie to the public that he has been slandered.

“Najib’s forked tongue can be seen in how worried he looks over the investigations that are being carried out,” said Amanah deputy Youth chief Faiz Fadzil in a statement.

Following several days of raids on properties and offices linked to Najib last week, the fallen BN chief told his constituency in Pekan that the former ruling coalition’s massive defeat was the result of people “buying into fake news” he claimed had been spread by Pakatan Harapan.

Najib also questioned whether the 1MDB investigation against him was sincere.

Faiz, who is Permatang Pasir assemblyperson, slammed his claims as being “far from the truth”.

“The issues of scandal and mega corruption engulfing Najib’s administration, especially the 1MDB scandal, are based on facts that Najib has failed to address in a positive manner.

“This led to the uprising of people to reject BN,” he said.

He pointed out how 1MDB’s debts of up to RM50 billion, as cited by the public accounts committee (PAC) in 2016, were being borne by taxpayers instead of 1MDB, which shows that money had been misappropriated.

“This is because a huge part of the debt had not been spent on 1MDB projects, but has vanished without any concrete explanation,” he said, pointing to the payment to International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) that had gone to the wrong company, Aabar Investment PJS Ltd registered in the British Virgin Islands.

“Najib as the chairperson of 1MDB’s advisory committee surely knows the facts, but had failed to deny this,” he said.

Faiz also noted how the former premier had failed to challenge the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) civil forfeiture suits to seize assets the Americans claim had been acquired using funds laundered from 1MDB.

The DOJ forfeiture suits repeatedly name a Malaysian Official 1 as being a key figure in the 1MDB money trail, and former minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan has admitted the official is Najib.

The American authorities have called 1MDB as the worst case of kleptocracy the world has ever seen.

Najib, said Faiz, also failed to sue the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) for the expose on the RM2.6 billion that had landed in his personal bank account, despite repeated threats to do so.

“If it is true the 1MDB scandal is slander towards him, although he had promised (to sue WSJ) on Tuesday (after the article was published in July 2015), come tomorrow, 151 Tuesdays would have passed by, without any lawsuit in sight.”