PRIME Minister Najib Razak has refused to comment further on the suit filed by the US Department of Justice to seize assets purchased by funds siphoned from 1Malaysia Development Bhd. 

Citing the statement issued by his office last Friday on the matter, Najib said there was no need for him to comment further.

“There have been too many statements, no need. I have released a statement (last Friday),” he told journalists in Putrajaya today.

Najib was asked to comment on Defence Minister Hishammudding Hussein assertion yesterday that the DoJ  should press charges if it had concrete proof of alleged misappropriation of funds from 1MDB.

Last Friday, the statement released by Najib’s office said the unnecessary and gratuitous naming of certain matters and individuals by the DoJ would only open the door to domestic political manipulation and interference

The Prime Minister’s Office noted its concern that there was a motivation that went beyond the objective of seizing assets in the DoJ’s latest filing.

When asked if he would take legal action, like suing the DoJ, Najib said: “Sue? Who is going to sue?”

On June 15 , the DoJ filed a civil action to seize assets worth US$540 million (RM2.3 billion), believed to have been purchased using money siphoned from state investment fund 1MDB.

This brings the total allegedly misappropriated funds from 1MDB to US$4.5 billion.

The DoJ is seeking to seize, among others, Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low’s, luxury yacht called Equanimity, which is worth US$165 million and rights to the film “Dumb and Dumber To” produced by Red Granite, a production house co-owned by Riza Aziz, Najib’s stepson.

The DoJ suit also noted that Low had purchased, using money from 1MDB, a 22-carat pink diamond necklace worth US$27.3 million for the “wife of Malaysian Official No. 1” (MO1).

MO1 was previously identified as the prime minister by a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. – June 19, 2017.