Tan Sri Muhyiddin has promised not to rock the boat in Umno immediately after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak sacked him as Deputy Prime Minister.
But a video of him talking to several guests which surfaced on Wednesday had him claiming that Datuk Seri Najib had admitted US$700 million (S$957 million) of funds were deposited into the Premier's account.
The clip with poor audio showed Mr Muhyiddin, who is still Umno's deputy president, speaking to several guests including Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir, about the money that The Wall Street Journal had alleged on July 3 was deposited into Mr Najib's accounts over the past two years.
It was the first time that an Umno official had claimed that the US$700 million of funds did flow into the Premier's accounts. Mr Najib himself had repeatedly said he never took any funds for "personal gain", but did not clarify whether he had those bank accounts and whether any funds flowed in.
In the video, taped on Tuesday just hours after he was shockingly removed for criticising the government's handling of allegations of financial abuse involving state investor 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Mr Muhyiddin sat next to Datuk Seri Mukhriz along with former minister Kadir Sheikh Fadzir on his left. There were other guests around them.
Mr Muhyiddin was seen in the video saying: "This is what he (PM Najib) said. He admitted. So I said: Why did you put into your personal account?". The 53-second clip ended there.
The claims made in the private conversation are in stark contrast to Mr Muhyiddin's comments to reporters on Wednesday that "I will not think about what has happened to me in the past because what is important are the party and the country's problems".
Meanwhile, Mr Najib's Umno party on Wednesday cancelled a supreme council meeting of its top leaders scheduled for Friday, even as several party leaders reportedly questioned the Premier's shocking changes.
