Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his government must prove its transparency in handling the RM1.3 billion in misappropriated 1MDB funds returned by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), said a corruption watchdog.

Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) said this is as the Perikatan Nasional was unelected, and consist of "the very people who were voted out for their dirty hands in the 1MDB scandal."

"Given this disturbing reality we Malaysians are forced to live with (it), a serious trust deficit must not set in.

"Thus it is imperative for Muhyiddin (above) and his cabinet to show a maximum level of transparency, which is obligatory," it said in a statement today.

It said there are questions on where the returned funds would be deposited, and whether it would be a trust fund as planned by the previous Pakatan Harapan government.

Today Muhyiddin announced that US$300 million (RM1.3 billion) would be returned by the DOJ.

This comes after the US, which had previously suspended the repatriation of seized 1MDB funds after the PN came to power, agreed to resume the return of the misappropriated funds with a tranche of RM300 million credited this month.

The DOJ has estimated that US$4.5 billion (RM19.5 billion) from 1MDB was allegedly misappropriated by high-level fund officials and their associates - including former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and businessperson Low Taek Jho - between 2009 and 2015.

Najib is also facing multiple criminal charges in relation to 1MDB.

News veteran A Kadir Jasin said the PN government must ensure justice is served in the trial against Najib over the 1MDB scandal.

He said both Najib and the people deserve justice in the trial that had been going on for seven months.

"In our joy at getting back RM1.3 billion from the US, don't forget that we were cheated.

"If we forget and get distracted, we may get cheated again," he said in a blog post.

Keep up with the latest information on the outbreak in the country with Malaysiakini's free Covid-19 tracker.

Malaysiakini is providing free access to the most important updates on the coronavirus pandemic. You can find them here.

Help keep independent media alive - subscribe to Malaysiakini.