As Malaysian investigators close in on alleged fund transfers into the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's personal accounts, they have asked for the cooperation of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). According to documents released by The Wall Street Journal, $681 million of the money allegedly transferred to Najib's accounts came from a Singapore account of a British Virgin Islands-based company.
The MAS says that it will cooperate with Malaysia in its probe into the fund transfers, which totaled almost $700 million. Najib has denied any wrong doing, although Malaysian authorities have said they were going to freeze 6 of Najib's accounts pending further investigations into the alleged transfers.
“The Malaysian authorities have launched an investigation into this matter. Singapore will continue to provide our full assistance and share information with the authorities in Malaysia, within the ambit of our laws. In this connection, MAS has been in close contact with the relevant financial institutions,” MAS said in a statement.
However, it did not name any financial institutions that might have been involved in the transfers.
“Financial institutions in Singapore are required to conduct rigorous customer due diligence, regular account reviews, and to monitor for and report any suspicious transactions. MAS will follow up with the financial institutions concerned and not hesitate to take any action if there are regulatory breaches. Due to on-going investigations in Malaysia, we are unable to provide more details.”
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