Former Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak purportedly paid a slew of his advisors up to RM200,000 a month, exclusive of perks and privileges, The Malaysian Insight reported today.

According to a source, Najib’s advisors were paid monthly salaries amounting between RM70,000 and RM200,000.

“But so far we have discovered only one who took home a salary of RM200,000 a month. This is almost 10 times what the prime minister earns. Checks are still being carried out.

"Not only did they enjoy high salaries, they also received many privileges and perks which came with their positions,” the source told the news portal.

The portal also reported that the highest paid advisor in question was a “former cabinet minister turned advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office” who had led a unit in the department, but stopped short at providing a name.

Another highly-paid advisor, also not named, was the person “in charge of the 1Malaysia branding”, it said.

These discoveries were made after the officers of the Pakatan Harapan government scrutinised classified documents belonging to the previous BN administration.

All have left

Since Harapan took Putrajaya after the 14th general election, these advisors have ceased to be on the government’s payroll.

"All these officers are no longer in the employment of the government. Most had vacated their offices immediately upon BN's defeat.

"They either left on their own without informing us or were told to leave immediately," the source was quoted as saying.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad previously vowed to axe up to 17,000 “political appointees” to minimise government expenditure.