INTERVIEW | Former BN chairperson Najib Razak distributed a total of RM470 million to BN parties in the 2013 general election. Of that sum, RM16.5 million went to MCA.

Former MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek had in October 2015 admitted that MCA was among the BN parties which received election funds from Najib.

In an interview with Malaysiakini on Thursday, Chua said MCA had no way of knowing the source of the funding.

"I already said there was money (given to MCA). But during that time (2013), there was no 1MDB. (News of) 1MDB had not burst onto the scene yet. (Talk of) 1MDB only emerged in 2014," he said.

"When people give you money ... when your father gives you money, will you ask your dad where the money comes from? Did you steal it? Did you borrow it?" he said.

"You would just receive it in good faith, don’t you agree?" he said.

"(Even) if the money came from 1MDB, we are just an innocent party. How the heck were we to know the origin of this money?" he said.

1MDB, Najib's brainchild set up in 2009, was meant to turn Kuala Lumpur into a financial hub and boost the economy through strategic investments.

The subsidiary of Finance Ministry began to draw attention after it missed repayment of a RM2 billion loan that was due in December 2014.

The rakyat was later angered to discover that RM2.6 billion of allegedly misappropriated funding had been channelled into Najib's personal bank account.

When asked if MCA should return the money now that the party knows that it originated from 1MDB, Chua said his answer would be irrelevant as he has no control over MCA's funds.

"That, you have to ask the (current) leadership," he said.