The Transport Minister, DS Liow Tiong Lai urged all parties to stop trying to overthrow a democratically elected government by politicising 1MDB. DS Liow who is also an MCA President said that the Government has taken all necessary action to look into the sovereign fund, and concluded that its troubles were caused by a poor business model, weak management and an over-reliance on leverage.
The 1MDB issue according to him has been over politicised by irresponsible parties, in their efforts to overthrow a democratically elected government. And now, these irresponsible parties have gone to the extent of willing to work with foreign forces to achieve their agenda which is unfortunate.
DS Liow was referring to the recent spate of attacks on 1MDB which cited a civil lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ). The DoJ moved last Thursday to seize US$540mil (RM2.3bil) of assets allegedly belonging to 1MDB.
This time last year, US prosecutors filed civil asset-forfeiture suits against more than US$1bil (RM4.27bil) worth of artworks, real estate and other assets owned by several individuals. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, DS Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the DoJ's manner in announcing its lawsuits related to the 1MDB case was 'heavy handed'.
DS stressed out that the issue could be motivated by politics rather than the law. The manner in which the case was announced is unbecoming. The language that was used was heavy handed. The case has not been brought to court, yet the DoJ according to DS Liow make statements that imply certain facts. He then asked the DoJ, if it is still being investigated, why do they make such irresponsible conclusions?