Investigator: I briefed Dr Mahathir five days after he became PM on 1MDB probe, including money in Najib’s account (2025)

PUTRAJAYA, April 7 — The police had briefed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad five days after he became prime minister in May 2018 on the status of police investigations on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the High Court heard today.

The police also briefed Dr Mahathir about the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) July 2016 court papers which showed 1MDB’s money having ended up in former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bank account.

Retired police investigator Senior Assistant Commissioner R. Rajagopal, who was the police officer who briefed Dr Mahathir in May 2018, said this while testifying as the 11th defence witness in Najib’s 1MDB trial.

“After GE14 on May 9, on May 15, I was ordered to give a briefing to YAB Prime Minister Dr Mahathir. At that time, I went with the IGP then Tan Sri Fuzi and also Datuk Seri Amar Singh to give a briefing in the form of PowerPoint on the police’s investigation, just five days after he became prime minister,” Rajagopal said, referring to the 14th general election on May 9, 2018 where Najib’s Barisan Nasional coalition lost.

Rajagopal said the briefing took place at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya, and that a total of four officers, including him, then Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, the police’s Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) then director Datuk Seri Amar Singh, and another officer who operated the PowerPoint presentation.

Rajagopal, who became the investigating officer for a criminal breach of trust probe on 1MDB in 2015, said he was the only one who gave the briefing.

“During the briefing, I also highlighted DoJ’s civil forfeiture complaint filed in the US in 2016 and 2017, which shows proceeds of 1MDB — even though we were confined then in Malaysia — shows proceeds have landed among others in Datuk Seri Najib’s account,” he said.

In the briefing, Rajagopal said he also highlighted 1MDB transactions, wrongdoings, the personalities involved, and the people who had received funds traceable to 1MDB, adding: “Because that is based on DoJ filing, we have not gone out of Malaysia at that time, based on that I presented what transpired.”

In explaining the purpose of the briefing, Rajagopal said he believed Dr Mahathir wanted to know about the police’s findings and outcome of the police’s investigations on the 1MDB matter.

Rajagopal said he had explained to Dr Mahathir about what the police have investigated within Malaysia since investigations started.

“He just said ok, if you need to get all this evidence to complete the investigation, just proceed and get it done and complete the investigation,” Rajagopal said, who had earlier told the court that Dr Mahathir asked the police to complete its 1MDB investigation with evidence from foreign countries.

Rajagopal said Dr Mahathir had also asked for clarifications at times during the May 2018 briefing.

Rajagopal confirmed that no suggestions were made by anyone during the May 2018 briefing on who should be charged, and also confirmed that there were no questions asked in the meeting on why nobody has been charged yet over 1MDB.

He pointed out that he had already explained in the briefing that the 1MDB investigations were still ongoing.

He also told the court today that the police needed to gather evidence from countries such as the US, Singapore and Switzerland, as 1MDB decisions were made by the 1MDB board of directors in Malaysia while multiple 1MDB transactions had taken place abroad.

“In order to complete the investigation, we need to see the entities that received money and how the money was transacted, so we need to complete before we can recommend necessary charges, so that’s what the briefing is about,” he said.

On May 16, 2018, the day after the briefing, Rajagopal lodged a police report to enable the police to begin investigations on alleged money laundering in the 1MDB case.

After the briefing, Rajagopal also said he was reappointed to a task force on 1MDB — which had previously been disbanded after its chair Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail was removed as the attorney general in 2015 — that was set up again in 2018.

Rajagopal said he had represented the IGP in the previous 1MDB task force whenever the police chief could not attend its meetings.

Rajagopal spoke about his May 2018 briefing in response to questions from deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Akram Gharib and Najib’s lead defence lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah.

Among other things, Rajagopal had said the previous 1MDB task force in 2015 had distributed investigation duties on 1MDB, with the police tasked with investigating all transactions relating to 1MDB to determine what offences had taken place.

He said the police had focused on CBT investigations on 1MDB then and also investigations on the 1MDB management and 1MDB board, and said his investigation then was not on the aspect of Najib’s actions.

Based on that earlier task force’s distribution of duties, Rajagopal said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigation was on the RM42 million relating to SRC International Sdn Bhd and the RM2.6 billion in Najib’s account, while Bank Negara Malaysia was investigating approvals for 1MDB investments.

Najib’s 1MDB trial before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah resumes tomorrow, with Shafee estimating another two to three hours to question Rajagopal.