THE Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) civil forfeiture suit against Umno is a bid by Pakatan Harapan to bankrupt the former ruling party, its members said.

They also accused the government of using the suit to distract the people from the sex scandal involving Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali.

Umno veterans’ secretary-general Mustapha Yaakub told The Malaysian Insight he was not surprised at the recent action taken by the anti-graft agency, as there had already been efforts previously to outlaw the party.

“MACC’s move appears to be akin to wanting to bankrupt Umno. When they bankrupt Umno, all of Umno’s assets will be placed under the Insolvency Department,” Mustapha said.

Umno acting president Mohamad Hasan said on Thursday the party would fight the MACC in court to recover its funds.

The commission said it filed civil forfeiture suits against 41 individuals and entities, including political parties like Umno and MCA, as well as several corporations and Islamic civil societies.

These entities are alleged recipients of RM270 million belonging to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which were transferred from an AmBank account of the then prime minister Najib Razak.

Umno branches in Selangor, Pahang, Kedah, Johor, Sabah and Kelantan are believed to have been recipients of the funds.

This latest action comes after the MACC froze the bank accounts of Umno headquarters and its Selangor branch, a month after PH won the general election last year.

But Mustapha said the most recent civil suits are part of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s plan to destroy and take over Umno.

“Because his previous efforts to try and buy over Umno members of parliament were not successful, they are using the law so that Umno can be taken over.

“If you had a problem with Najib Razak, Najib has already fallen. What else does he want with Umno? Umno’s assets can only be transferred with the approval of two-thirds of the party.”

Secretary of Selangor Umno’s communication body Johan Abd Aziz said the announcement by the MACC came as a shock to party members.

“I’m not sure if the MACC move would affect Umno or not. It was a shock. We will need to wait for Umno central to decide on our next step, because we didn’t know the source of the funds,” he said.

Umno Bagan Serai chief Sham Mat Sahat slammed the civil forfeiture suits as a ploy to distract voters from the viral sex video scandal involving Azmin.

“This 1MDB issue is not important to the people. They are fed-up,” he said.

“What they feel now is the strain on their daily lives, the prices of commodities which are not rising, and they live in anxiety. This is what the people want the government to solve, not to be so caught up with the 1MDB issue.” – June 24, 2019.