FORMER Bersih 2.0 chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan is a key witness in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s probe into the RM90 million allegedly given to PAS by Umno.

An MACC source said Ambiga was summoned to the anti-graft agency’s headquarters in Putrajaya, where she spent more than an hour giving her statement.

The lawyer’s statement is vital given that she was named by Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown as a source for the 2016 article claiming the transfer of millions to PAS leaders in exchange for support for Barisan Nasional and former prime minister Najib Razak.

“We will call up other individuals mentioned in the article,” said the source.

Rewcastle-Brown revealed Ambiga as a source in her counterarguments in a defamation suit filed by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang in October 2017 over the article in question.

Besides Ambiga, MACC has recorded the statements of former PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa and the party’s central committee member, Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz.

Nasharudin said he has handed over documents and financial statements to the agency.

“I hope MACC carries out investigations into all parties concerned, for example, those who claim to have evidence. I hope they come forward and help MACC.

“I am also thankful to MACC for acting swiftly on the police report lodged over the RM90 million controversy.”

The agency launched a probe into the alleged RM90 million payment, said to be 1Malaysia Development Bhd funds, after police forwarded it a report filed following Hadi’s move last week to settle the suit against Rewcastle-Brown and the whistle-blower site.

Earlier this week, Sarawak Report published an article claiming that Hadi’s lawyer admitted that Nik Abduh had taken money from Umno. – February 8, 2019.