PUTRAJAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia's police chief on Tuesday (July 26) gave the assurance that the investigation into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is ongoing and police will not be rushed into completing the probe.

Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar said the investigation took time as the process of recording statements from witnesses was a lengthy one.

"The investigation is still on going. I know some people are trying to rush us in doing our work.

"Some of the witnesses took us more than a week or two weeks to record their statements as there are so many documents we have to check," he said at the launch of the 36th Asean Chiefs of Police (Aseanapol) Conference .

"You cannot rush us in doing our work and don't compare us to other organisations. If you want us to do a good job, we have to do it properly," he added.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had filed civil suits to seize more than US$1 billion (S$1.36 billion) in assets allegedly linked to 1MDB. It claimed the assets were bought with money stolen from the state investor.

Those named in the suits include Prime Minister Najib Razak's stepson Riza Aziz, founder of Red Granite Pictures which produced the Oscar-nominated 2013 movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" directed by Martin Scorsese. The suits alleged that tens of millions of dollars were diverted from 1MDB to produce the movie.

Another person named is businessman Low Taek Jho, who was allegedly involved in siphoning up to US$3.5 billion from 1MDB. Mr Low is known to be a close associate of Mr Najib and Mr Riza.

Although the DOJ filing did not name Mr Najib, it referred repeatedly to "Malaysian Official 1", a high- ranking government official who had control over 1MDB and had received US$681 million and is a close relative of Mr Riza.