KUALA LUMPUR: An application by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) for mutual legal assistance related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd investigations was left unfulfilled by Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohd Apandi Ali.
This was revealed to the 1MDB special task force in a two-way meeting with officers from the DoJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), today.
The task force said that DoJ had made applications to Apandi on Sept 22 last year.
However the application was left unfulfilled and was postponed with the excuse that it would disrupt ongoing investigations by Malaysian authorities.”
Hence no cooperation has been given on the issue until today.
This was revealed in a statement issued by the task force after the meeting which was held at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters here.
The FBI also revealed that an application letter dated Nov 13, 2016 was sent to Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad who was the MACC chief commissioner at the time.
However they also received no feedback from him.
The meeting was co-chaired by former Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, former MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed as well as current MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull and Federal police Special Branch Department director Datuk Abdul Hamid Bador.
In the meeting they discussed the focus and direction of the 1MDB investigation, the application for mutual legal assistance (MLA) and also the possibility of bringing back assets that were frozen in the US.
Those involved also agreed to offer one another full cooperation to complete the current investigation on the debt riddled state investment fund.
The parties are also expected to meet from time to time to facilitate the investigation.
“The DoJ and FBI also recorded their highest gratitude to the newly formed Malaysian government under the leadership of prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for acting on the issue after the former administration failed to take any action related to 1MDB,” the statement read.