Malaysia has accused Switzerland of breaking protocol and circulating misinformation when its attorney general said last week that billions of dollars had been stolen from Malaysian state-owned companies.
In the most scathing response by a member of the government to date, Malaysia’s Minister of Communications Salleh Said Keruak told the Guardian that “these premature statements appear to have been made without a full and comprehensive appreciation of all the facts.” “It’s very unusual, and against normal protocol, for a senior official of one country to speak publicly on the internal matters of another country. Yet that is what the Swiss Attorney General has done,” he said.
The rebuke adds fire to a burgeoning diplomatic standoff between Malaysia and Switzerland, one of several countries investigating corruption at 1MBD (1Malaysia Development Berhad), a heavily-indebted state fund whose advisory board is headed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Najib was himself cleared of corruption in Malaysia a week ago by the country’s attorney general, who said the Saudi royal family was the source of a $681m “donation” to Najib’s personal accounts just before the 2013 election.
The premier’s critics allege the transfers was in fact linked to the 1MBD, an accusation that 1MBD, the attorney general and the prime minister deny.
A statement from the Swiss attorney general’s office released late on Friday reignited graft allegations when it called for assistance from Malaysian authorities in a probe into the embezzlement of $4bn from 1MDB. It said investigators had “revealed serious indications that funds have been misappropriated”.
While the Swiss attorney general’s office told the Guardian that Najib was not under accusation, the announcement focused intense international pressure on the government just three days after Najib said accusations against him had “been comprehensively put to rest”.
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