PRIME Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ordered the Immigration Department to stop his predecessor, Najib Razak, and Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, from leaving the country.

He said he instructed the authorities to do so because of complaints levelled against the couple. 

“It is true that I prevented Najib from leaving the country. There are a lot of complaints against him. They need to be investigated. Some complaints are valid,” Dr Mahathir said at a press conference today. 

He said it was best to keep Najib in the country for fear of problems holding him accountable in the future.

“We have to act quickly because we don’t want to be saddled with problems of extradition from other countries,” Dr Mahathir said. 

The 93-year-old, however, refused to say if Najib was being investigated for involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal. – May 12, 2018.