ISTANBUL: Umno has nothing to hide and welcomes any audit of its RM50 million crowdfunding effort for former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said its secretary-general Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.
He said the party had been transparent from the start, with a separate account established for the Najib Razak Solidarity Fund following an Umno Supreme Council decision.
“When we decided on the special fund, we set aside a separate account for this.
“We did this in a transparent manner. If they want to audit, we are open and welcome it because there is nothing to hide,” he said.
Asyraf said the fund came from a crowdfunding effort and all the money came from the public.
He dismissed claims that some of it came from “towkay” who received projects from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry.
He described the claims as “slander”.
He said people had donated as little as RM20, and that he monitored the account online each hour to ensure that all donations went into it.
“Nothing went through any other account or any individual,” he said.
Asyraf was responding to a call by former Damansara member of parliament Tony Pua for Bank Negara Malaysia and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to audit the fund.
Pua said an audit was necessary to ensure that the money raised was legitimate and had not been laundered.
Umno settled Najib’s RM50 million fine through the Najib Razak Solidarity Fund, which was launched in September.
Najib has been in Kajang Prison since Aug 23, 2022, after being convicted of misappropriating RM42 million belonging to SRC International Sdn Bhd.
He was sentenced to 12 years’ jail and fined RM210 million, which the Federal Territories Pardons Board reduced in January 2024 to six years and RM50 million.
On Sept 18, Najib was granted a further conditional pardon allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest until Aug 23, 2028.
This was subject to payment of the RM50 million fine and compliance with other conditions.