KUALA LUMPUR: Police have said that while Singapore authorities have allowed the police team passage to pursue investigations related to the 1MDB scandal on Datuk Dr Tawfiq Ayman, there were several glitches that led to the trip there being shelved.
Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Kamarudin Md Ali yesterday said police had contacted their Singapore counterpart to head out to the country and seek more information on the case as directed by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) last October.
He said police applied for assistance from Singapore under the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matter Act through the AGC.
Kamarudin said the CCID was given approval by the republic’s authorities to enter Singapore in December last year and February this year.
However, he said police were unable to make the trip to Singapore last year following temporary suspension of the vaccinated travel lane (VTL) between both countries from Dec 23, 2021 to Jan 20.
He said following the second consent by Singapore last month, the trip to the republic had to be called off after the investigation officer of the case tested positive for Covid-19 and was unable to provide another date for the travel.
“Apart from this, we have yet to receive a response from Singaporean witnesses if they were prepared to be interviewed by our investigations team,” Kamarudin said.
In the latest development, the Singapore commercial affairs department had agreed to allow Malaysian police into the country to gather information on the case on March 29 and 30.
“The probe is ongoing and has not ceased. We want to state that any past statements we have made related to the probe on Tawfiq and our trip to Singapore was not meant to conceal any facts or confuse any party. We are committed to ensuring this case is concluded soon with transparency and fairness to all parties,” Kamarudin said.
Tawfiq, who is former Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz’s husband, allegedly received funds linked to 1MDB in his Singapore bank account and is being investigated under Section 4 (1) (a) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Prevention of Financing of Terrorism and Proceeds from Illegal Activities Act 2001.
