The aide is allegedly a director of a company believed to have 1MDB money banked into its accounts.
A former special officer of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is being held on remand by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for seven days from today to assist in its investigation into a case related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).
The MAAC obtained the order for the remand of the 42-year-old Datuk until July 1 from Magistrate Shah Wira Abdul Halim at the Putrajaya Magistrate’s Court to facilitate its probe under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009.
The man was brought to the court at 9.15 am, handcuffed and clad in the MACC orange lockup attire.
The former special officer, who was accompanied by investigating officer Mohd Farid Ismail, was not represented by a lawyer.
He arrived at the MACC headquarters at 6pm yesterday to have his statement recorded and was arrested at 9.45 pm.
He had served with Bank Negara prior to being appointed as a special officer to Najib in 2009. He resigned from the post on June 5.
The Star cited sources saying that he is being investigated as he is a director of a company believed to have money banked into its accounts.
The Straits Times identified the former Najib aide as Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin.
Amhari, who is listed as a fellow of the US-based Eisenhower Fellowships (EF), is described on the EF website as having worked directly with Najib since 2009 on national economic policies and the annual budget.
In May 2017, vice-president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Rafizi Ramli claimed that Orb Solutions Sdn Bhd, a company part-owned by Amhari, had received RM2 million (S$679,000) from Najib’s personal account in August 2014.
The company has described its nature of business as “web management and communication strategies solutions”.
According to the daily, Rafizi had said this information was based on leaked documents regarding fund flows from SRC International, a former subsidiary of 1MDB that is also being probed by MACC for alleged payments to Najib.
The Straits Times last year reported that Amhari was among the key figures involved in 1MDB’s negotiations with Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) to settle an outstanding loan obligation.