Singapore has repatriated to Malaysia US$15.4 million in 1MDB-linked funds that involved a company co-owned by Tawfiq Ayman – the husband of former Bank Negara governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz.
The MACC revealed the return of funds in a statement today but did not disclose when exactly the funds were returned.
According to the graft-buster, the US$15.4 million had been linked to the accounts of Cutting Edge Industries Ltd, which they said was co-owned by Tawfiq and one Samuel Goh.
Zeti, who is a witness in former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s 1MDB trial, has previously said allegations against her and her family were false and malicious, and that they had never received 1MDB funds.
Previously it was reported that Singapore had alerted BNM about suspicious transactions from fugitive businessperson Jho Low to a company owned by Tawfiq when Zeti was still heading the central bank.
According to The Edge, the transfers totalling US$16.22 million took place in 2008 and 2009 and were flagged to BNM in 2015 and 2016 when Singapore began investigating 1MDB linked transfers.
The funds were reportedly received by Iron Rhapsody Ltd a company that is allegedly beneficially owned by Tawfiq and one of his sons.
Iron Rhapsody is then alleged to have transferred the 1MDB-linked funds to Cutting Edge Industries – which is also owned by Tawfiq and his sons Abdul Aziz and Aliff Ayman.
Leaked statutory declarations signed by the trio in 2019 state that they consented to Singapore authorities seeking an order to transfer funds from Cutting Edge Industries to accounts as determined by 1MDB – which was at that time trying to recuperate its misappropriated funds.
The Edge has also alleged that Tawfiq was believed to be one of Low’s partners in the Abu Dhabi Malaysia Kuwait Investment Corporation (ADKMIC) when it was founded in 2007.
ADKMIC was used by Low between 2011 and 2013 to launder misappropriated 1MDB funds during the Good Star phase. – Malaysiakini