TWO more reports were lodged today urging the police to investigate claims that RM9.5 million was paid to prominent lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

The PKR national and Selangor Youth wings lodged separate reports at the police stations in Dang Wangi and Shah Alam around noon today.

At Dang Wangi, PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad told reporters that there were four issues the police should investigate.

They should probe into why Prime Minister Najib Razak paid RM9.5 million to Shafee and what was the lawyer’s relationship with the Umno president.

“The third thing we want to know is if the payment is related to Anwar Ibrahim’s case,” said Nik Nazmi.

“We also want to know who else received money from SRC International through Najib’s personal account,” said the Selangor executive councillor.

Nik Nazmi said the Youth group will make more reports all over the country.

At the Shah Alam police station, Selangor PKR Youth chief Afzainisam Rahman said police should investigate if the RM9.5 million is connected to Anwar’s sodomy case.

Afzainizam also said Anwar should be released immediately if Sarawak Report’s allegations are true that there was a political conspiracy in the PKR de facto leader’s case. 

“We will also be discussing the matter with our top leaders on whether to raise this issue with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.”

On May 31, Sarawak Report alleged in its article, Najib paid Anwar’s prosecutor RM9.5 million from 1MDB slush fund WHY?”  that Shafee was the “biggest individual recipient of money from Najib’s 1MDB slush fund accounts”.

It alleged that Najib paid Shafee RM4.3 million in September 2013 and RM5.2 million in February 2014.

The whistle-blower claimed the money came from the bank account “that had been identified as having been funded by money stolen by the prime minister from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) subsidiary SRC, which had borrowed some RM4 billion from the civil service pension fund (Retirement Fund Inc) KWAP”.

Sarawak Report said the RM5.2 million Shafee allegedly received in February 2014 came just a fortnight before the Appeal Court overturned the 2012 acquittal of opposition leader Anwar’s sodomy charge. 

Shafee was the appointed public prosecutor in the appeal against the acquittal of Anwar of new sodomy charges. 

On Sunday, Umno Supreme Council member Nazri Abdul Aziz said it was irrelevant whether the prime minister paid or did not pay the lead prosecutor in Anwar’s sodomy trial.

“It is not like, if you pay RM10 million (to the prosecutor), the trial will be fast, if you pay RM5 million, the trial will be slow,” he told Malaysiakini.

The Malaysian Bar has also urged police to investigate the “serious” allegations that the lead prosecutor in Anwar’s sodomy trial was paid by Najib.

Bar president George Varughese told Free Malaysia Today that while it would be premature for the Bar to refer the lawyer to the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board because of insufficient evidence of misconduct, police must launch a thorough investigation quickly.

Lawyer Shafee has not responded to the allegations despite efforts to contact him last week. – June 5, 2017.