Maybe 1988 Umno president can explain secret bank account - Shahril
With the current crop of Umno leaders claiming ignorance over an alleged secret unaudited bank account for political donations, some believe those who led the party in the past may know more.
For Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan, the leader who may know best would be Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was party president when the account was allegedly opened in 1988.
With the current crop of Umno leaders claiming ignorance over an alleged secret unaudited bank account for political donations, some believe those who led the party in the past may know more.
For Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan, the leader who may know best would be Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was party president when the account was allegedly opened in 1988.
"To my knowledge, no such account exists for Umno.
"So whatever account exists since 1988, perhaps the president during 1988 (Mahathir) can help clarify since he seems to be most enlightened about it," Shahril told Malaysiakini.
The account was said to have been opened the same year Mahathir re-registered Umno after the party was declared unlawful by the courts due to the existence of several unregistered branches.
Mahathir had in 2015 said that during his time helming the party, political donations went into a party account that had three trustees including himself.
"The trustees would have an account. All donations, particularly for elections, are deposited into this account [...]
"The trustees were also named as equity holders and property owners on behalf of Umno," said the former prime minister.
However, it is unclear whether this is the "secret" bank account.
"If the courts later rule that such an account did exist, and it is established that it isn't the 1988 account mentioned by Mahathir in 2015, then perhaps other previous presidents can also shed light on the matter," Shahril said.
"Because as (Umno deputy president) Mohamad Hasan indicated, the current party management has no knowledge of such an account," he added.
Existence of the secret bank account was claimed by prosecutors in the government’s 1MDB-linked forfeiture suit against Obyu Holdings.
Umno had claimed that money the government wanted to seize belonged to the party.
In a written submission rebutting this, the prosecution claimed the account, which was unaudited, was used to receive political donations.
The prosecution said that this was in violation of the Societies Act.
The prosecution also said Umno's claim over unaudited monies possibly violated the Societies Act and could result in the party being de-registered.
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