Malaysia's police probing alleged conspiracy to topple PM Najib

Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar being surrounded by the media at KL Sentral in Kuala Lumpur. PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police is not ruling out the possibility of a conspiracy to topple the Prime Minister undemocratically.

Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said that the police were instructed by the Attorney-General on July 8 to conduct a full probe over the allegations that bank documents were leaked to foreign nationals.

The documents were alleged to have come from an unnamed investigator on the trail of the controversial 1Malaysia Development Berhad (IMDB) funds.

"We have not ruled out a conspiracy to subvert our democratic process and to topple our Prime Minister," Mr Khalid said.

Such criminal acts raised national security implications, he added.

He said officials of the special task force and Bank Negara Malaysia personnel were also being investigated over the alleged leaks of classified documents.

"In addition, we received police reports on the matter.

"Thus we are duty bound to carry out an independent investigation to uphold the integrity of our financial system," he said in a statement on Monday.

Mr Khalid said that the leaking of banking information - whether doctored or otherwise - could result in multiple offences under the Financial Services Act 2013, the Islamic Financial Services Act 2013 and Official Secrets Act 1972.

"Anyone found guilty of doctoring or leaking such documents will face the full brunt of the law.

"Our objective is to identify those who leaked the documents and to determine whether it is doctored or otherwise as in the Xavier Justo case," he said.

Last month, Thai police arrested Justo, 49, a Swiss national, at Koh Samui island resort for allegations of blackmailing 2.5 million Swiss francs (S$3.6 million) from PetroSaudi in exchange for not disclosing confidential company information.

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